Harry Potter and the Wanderer
by The Shadows
Summary: Harry is starting his sixth year at Hogwarts. When a time wolf appears in his room to help strengthen his mind, he learns of the approach of the Wanderer. With his friends by his side and relationships changing can he face what comes his way?
1. The Visitor

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I do own the concept of time wolves, as well as the Wanderer, Fey, and Kailyn. Anything else I'll mention as I progress. The fact will remain the same, however, that I do not own Harry Potter.

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Chapter One: A Visitor

On a small little street in Little Whinging, a small suburb of Surrey, an odd peace had finally broken out. Number 4 Privet Drive had been an strange house for several years, though no one was really sure why. Petunia and Vernan were two of the most outgoing people in the neighbourhood, making sure everyone knew how well off they always were. Vernan's Drill Company was a huge success, and everyone knew it.

Several years ago, though, the normal bustling and shouting that was heard from the inside of the house intensified. It would always grow during the summer months when their estranged nephew returned home from his boarding school, and it had almost gotten to the point where people decided to leave during the summer, just to avoid the noise.

This year was different, though. The odd, lanky teenaged child with wild black hair had stepped out of the large black car that the Dursley's drove, and walked into the house without a word. The Dursley's even carried in his things for him. Plans were cancelled right away, as people wanted to know what was going on.

Of course, inside, on the bed in the smallest bedroom of the house, the boy didn't really care what the neighbours thought. He closed his emerald green eyes slowly, again, and opened them again just as quickly as the rough face of his godfather flashed before his eyes. Everything had changed last year for Harry Potter.

A soft hooting caught his attention, and he looked over to his snowy white owl Hedwig. There was a stack of letters sitting beneath her, but not even one of them had been opened. He couldn't bring himself to hear about the pity from his friends from school. He had kept his word to write every three days to at least one person, and had done so to his old Professor Lupin. Two words in each letter was all it had taken, though. I'm fine.

Harry Potter was not a normal boy living in a normal house. He was also not a delinquent, despite what the neighbours thought. Nor was he fine. Harry Potter went to a very different school during the learning months, a school that most people could not see even if they looked upon it. Most people in the world are muggles. Harry Potter was no muggle.

Harry was even strange for a wizard. The lightning shaped scar on his forehead was a constant reminder to the tragedy that had happened just as he was starting life. A tragedy that he was only beginning to understand. A terrible burden had been placed upon him by one of the few people he thought he could trust more than anything, Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His school.

_Fifth year was not a good year for you, was it?_

Harry sat up for one of the first times in almost a month at the sound of the voice in the forefront of his mind. Unlike the voice that he sometimes heard - thanks to the terrible dark wizard Voldemort - this voice held no malice. That didn't mean it was welcome, though.

"Get out," he said softly and firmly. "Get out of my mind and out of my life." He looked around the room carefully, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the mystery speaker. "I don't need this right now."

_You're right,_ the voice said almost at once. _You don't need this. Lying in your bed rotting away will not help you. _Harry caught a glimpse of green out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked in that direction, there was just his closet. _I wish to speak with you, Mister Potter._

"Who are you?" he demanded. "How did you get in here?"

Harry's wand, which was clasped firmly in his hand, suddenly flew from it and landed on the ground. As he darted forward to grab at it again, he was forced to stop as he found himself staring into two great glowing grey eyes. He backed up at once, and found himself face to face with a massive blue and white wolf, who was sitting calmly looking back at him, one paw resting on his wand.

_Very little can keep a time wolf out of where he wishes to be._

"Give me my wand!" Harry demanded in a louder voice, not caring anymore if his cousin or aunt and uncle heard him. "NOW!"

_And just what would you do with it if you had it?_ The wolf took a step closer and dipped his head. _I suspect you might try something you would later regret._

"I would try to get you out of here!"

_Like I said._

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Instead of seeing Sirius dying all over again this time, instead he saw Hermione sitting by the fireplace telling Ron and him to think things through. He was sure it had been during one of their homework assignments that the two had put off too long, but the message was still clear. "Why would I regret getting rid of you?"

_You would fail. And I might retaliate. But I do not wish you any harm, Mister Potter._

"The name's Harry."

_Some call me Rozan._

"Fine," Harry said with a nod. "Can I have my wand back now?" The wolf took a step back and removed his paw from the wand. Harry couldn't help but think as he reached forward for it that it was only thanks to Hagrid, his half giant teacher with a dangerous love for dangerous animals, that he wasn't afraid of the large wolf. It obviously had a good deal of magic in it if it could speak through his mind.

_I do,_ the wolf said, nodding. _And, although I do not wish to read minds, when you project such strong thoughts, it can not be helped._

"Snape said that too..." Harry said bitterly.

There was a long pause at the two looked at each other, during which time Harry's stomach growled it's protest at not having been filled for more than a week. For the full summer thus far, he had slipped out of his room a couple of nights a week for a small snack, but that had been all. Before he could say anything, Rozan dipped his nose again and a sandwich appeared in Harry's hand. _It should tide you over for now._

"Just why did you come here?" Harry asked through mouthfuls. "Not to feed or torment me, I'm sure."

_Are you planning on reading any of your letters?_

"Are you going to answer my question?"

_Only if you answer mine._

"I wasn't planning on it. I don't need to hear pity or people telling me that it wasn't my fault right now, even though it bloody well was."

_Sirius's death was a great loss, _the wolf said sadly. _But I will not tell you why I am here unless you read at least three letters, and two must be from different people._

"You didn't know him, so don't think you know me," he said coolly. He did get up from the bed, though. His curiousity would not be satisfied if he simply sat there, and he knew, without a doubt, that his curiousity was insatiable sometimes.

He pushed through the stack of letters, and settled on one from Hermione, one from Ron, and one from Luna. Just as he was about to open them, a rapping on his window caused him to look up. A falcon was hovering before the glass, a green letter clasped in its beak. He opened the window quickly, and the letter dropped into his hands as the falcon shot off again.

He opened the letter slowly, not sure what was going on. It was brief and to the point. "Please take good care of Rozan. He will be leaving you in a couple of days to come home." It was signed with a symbol at the bottom, but Harry wasn't sure what it stood for.

He looked to the wolf in confusion, and Rozan looked away from him. "Does this count as one, then?" he asked.

_Letters from the Wanderer do not count as anything. It simply means that he knows who you are._ The wolf's grey eyes sparkled as he spoke, and then he looked behind him to the door. _Your cousin is going to be in for a surprise if he manages to open that door._

Without even asking how the wolf knew what was going to happen, he darted to the door and slammed his weight against it just as Dudley started to open it. There was a loud crash from outside, and then the pounding of feet as the plump lad ran off again.

After trying to ask Rozan a few more questions, he sighed and went back to his desk and pulled out three letters at random from the stacks he had made. He opened the one from Ron first.

"Hey mate,  
Hope you're hanging out alright, and if the muggles give you any crap, just remind them about the eye. I still can't believe that Mad-Eye, saying things like that to your uncle. I wish I had my omnioculars , so I could see that again and again! Blimey!

Look, I can't force it any more. If you need anything, and I mean anything, ask, alright? You don't have to go through this alone. You've got friends. Ginny's been after me to owl you for days, even though I did just a couple of days ago. Not sure if any are getting through or not, as you haven't even replied to a single one, but still. We are at the same place as we were at the end of last summer, but it is horrible. Mum's makin us clean the full time, and we still aren't allowed to hear anything.

Keep in touch, mate!  
Ron

Ps. Ginny says she's inviting Luna over soon. Any ideas of how to save me?"

Harry shook his head and sighed, tossing the letter aside. He knew Ron well enough to know that the cleaning wasn't happening, and that it was only said to try and cheer him up. He was at Grimmauld Place again. He wondered if Hermione was there, too, and so he took her letter next.

"Harry,  
It's not your fault.

Hermione."

He frowned at that letter, and then looked back to the stack from her. There was more than twice the amount from Hermione as there was from Ron, and she didn't even have an owl. He tore open several more before he found one that said much of anything.

"Harry,  
Look, I'm sorry about all the letters, but you don't seem to be answering any, so I thought I'd bombard you until you did. I'm really worried about you, Harry. Please take care of yourself. If there's anything I can do, send Hedwig right away. I'm staying with my folks this summer, so I can be a little closer to you in case you need me.

Of course, I'm writing this to the envelop, as I'm sure you won't even open it. But I had to write it anyway. You are too special to just let wallow in your own self-pity. Please remember that it isn't your fault.

I am here for you.  
Love,  
Hermione.

ps. You could call, too, if you don't feel like writing. I just need to know that you're alive still..." She had included her phone number.

Harry wrinkled his brow in concentration as he reread the letter. She wasn't saying something, but he wasn't sure what it was. As he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly thought of something she could do for him.

He pulled out his quill quickly and dipped it in his inkpot, but then put it back, thinking better of himself. He turned to the blue white wolf and waited for him to acknowledge him again. "Would you mind if I called someone instead of reading more?"

_You wish to ask Hermione what she knows about time wolves._

Harry's emerald eyes narrowed subconsciously as he realized that the creature before him could read his every thought. It would take a lot of work on his part with what little he knew of Occlumency to counter act it. "Yes."

_I will not eavesdrop into the conversation._

Harry sighed as he opened the door to his room and stepped into the hall. He didn't really have need for a phone in his room before, not like he would have gotten one if he did, but there was a phone in the upstairs hall.

He picked it up and dialled the number quickly, but then he thought better of it and hung up the phone. He didn't need to hear pity or sympathy from her either. Looking back to the room, he knew he couldn't return and not have at least tried. Maybe she wasn't home. Again, he picked up the phone and dialled, this time holding the receiver to his ear to listen.

"Hello?" He breathed a sigh of relief that Hermione had picked up the phone, but then his voice went dry. There was so much he suddenly wanted to say... how sorry he was for the Department of Mysteries problem last term, how he should have listened to her, how... He didn't realize that he sighed into the phone until he heard Hermione's voice catch in her throat. "Harry?" she asked, her voice full of worry and hope.

"How... how did you know?" he croaked, forcing the words out. His memories were becoming unbidden as scenes from the terror flashed through his mind again.

"Oh thank goodness you're alive, Harry!" she said excitedly into the phone. "I was just about set to ignore Dumbledore's orders and have my parents drive me down there to make sure you were alright. I mean, really Harry, your letters to Lupin aren't true, are they?"

"Hermione..." he said softly, and she stopped talking at once. When he faltered again, he closed his eyes to his frustration, only to snap them open again as he saw her lying on the ground after Dolohov's curse had struck her down.

"I'm here, Harry," she said in an equally soft voice. "I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks," he whispered. As he was about to hang up the phone, he snapped it back. "Hermione?"

"Yes?" she asked in surprise, obviously having been close to hanging it up herself.

"Can... can I ask you something?"

"A... anything, Harry," she said. She sounded nervous suddenly.

"You are the smartest witch ever to grace Hogwarts, of that I'm sure," he said slowly. "And I need to tap your knowledge for a moment."

"What do you need to know?" she asked, her curiosity piqued, her nervous tone gone in an instant.

"What can you tell me about time wolves?"

"Time wolves?" she repeated. When he didn't say anything, she hmmed to herself, and he couldn't help but grin. He could picture her with her hand to her forehead, or looking through stacks of books on a bookshelf. "They're really rare, Harry. They were supposed to have been wiped out almost three hundred years ago. Few survived the onslaught, and only one has ever been seen to grace human presences ever since. They stick to the woods... deep in the woods where men do not dare to travel."

"Deeper than spiders?" Harry asked more of himself than of her.

"Spiders?"

"Never mind," he said. "Look, can you find out more about them?"

"I'm sure I have a book about legendary magical creatures somewhere. I remember that they are dangerous creatures with powerful magic, Harry. They can read and manipulate minds. Why are you asking about time wolves?"

Harry sighed as he looked back to the open door that lead to his cramped room. "Because there's one sitting on the floor of my room." He didn't stay on the phone long enough to hear her reaction before hanging up. Although it was good to hear her voice again, it only seemed to bring back a wave of guilt. Once he had hung up the phone, he looked at it on the receiver for a moment before whispering to it, as though hoping is words would reach her still. "Stay safe..."

As he stepped into his room again, he found Rozan staring at him. _It's not your fault._

"Bullocks."

The two sat in silence for a time before the wolf yawned widely and settled down to rest his head on his paws again. _You have done more than I thought you would, Harry._

"Will you tell me what you are doing here now?"

_I am here for many reasons. First, I am here because I wish to be. Second, I think you need a bit of help right now, and I am here. I will not betray secrets or keep truths from you. And thirdly, I believe you are in need of some help with your mind control. You even thought it earlier, though I must warn you now that I know of only one person who can block the mind of a time wolf._

"How do you know me at all? What made you think I needed any help?"

_A close friend of mine has recently accepted a role as a teacher at your school. Naturally, he heard about what happened last year, and told me about it._

"Is he the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

_You are indeed perceptive. They call him the Wanderer._

"The one who sent me that letter? Who call him the Wanderer? And why? Surely he has a name..."

_One that I will not divulge at this time. Some secrets must be kept._

"I thought you said you weren't going to keep secrets from me," the young wizard accused the time wolf. "Because if that's how it's going to be, you can leave right now!" He barely realized that he had his wand levelled at the wolf again.

_We will work on your temper, as well. Surely you do not enjoy trying to bite the heads off your friends..._

"Answer my question."

_He is unlike any Professor you have ever had, or will ever have again. He will only be here for one year, as that is all the time he can take. His granddaughter will be starting as a first-year this year, though few will put the connection together right away._ The wolf paused, and looked up at Harry as the wand slowly lowered again. _He is also not human._

The rest of the day was spent with Harry practically staring down the wolf who was watching him closely. Without even realizing what was happening exactly, he knew that his mind was strengthening. Some form of magic was happening in the room, some type of Occlumency or Legilimency, but he couldn't explain it. He caught glimpses of a tall being in green every once and a while, which Rozan told him was impressive, but he received no direct instructions. Still, he felt he was better off with the wolf than with Snape any day. He doubted that the wolf would bite as hard as Snape.

That night was the first dreamless night he had in a very long time.

He wasn't entirely sure when Hedwig had left, but she was tapping on the window in the morning, trying to get in again. She had with her a letter and a small package. The letter had Hermione's writing on it, and the package had the lofty script of Dumbledore.

"Hi Harry!  
It was so good to hear from you yesterday! Imagine my surprise when I found Hedwig sitting on my window sill last night, too! I sat down and wrote this letter right then and there, as you can probably guess.  
Were you serious when you said there is a time wolf in your room? Harry... I think you should tell someone else, too. Someone like Dumbledore. I promise I won't - I couldn't go through anything like I did in third year ever again. That was the hardest time of my life, you know?  
Well, almost hardest. This summer tops it. I'm just worried about you, Harry. Ron says he's having fun in Snuffle's house, but he's not talking much. I know he's fine, but Harry - are you really okay?"

He scanned down a few lines until she stopped asking him that, and started reading again. "I asked McGonagall about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, because I looked at the book list and see that we aren't even getting a book this year! I mean, with NEWTs only a year away, we need all the help we can get, don't you think? Any idea about who they are appointing this year? I hope its not another bloody git like Umbridge." He smiled to himself as he saw the curse word. He didn't think she had it in her to swear about a teacher, but last year had proved a great deal of things wrong.

"My parents are away on vacation now... I decided to stay home because I hoped to hear from you again. Please don't feel guilty, though, if you don't call, I've got loads of reading to do for next year anyway. I just wish I had my OWL results by now. You could call again, you know? Or write... or something. Like I said before, I'm here.  
Love,  
Hermione."

_She has an Outstanding in all her subjects except Astronomy, where she was awarded an Exceeds Expectations._ Harry looked behind him to find Rozan looking at him again. _She was distracted._

"And just how would you know that?"

_I am a time wolf,_ Rozan replied, as though that explained everything.

"And just why would that make a difference?"

_I can discern different things through time, Harry. Not large things, but small things that are nice to know sometimes._

"Alright, how did Ron and me do, then?"

_Do you wish for me to spoil the surprise, or are you sure you can't wait four days?_

Harry left his room again, well aware that the Dursley's had basically shut off the upstairs of the house to keep away from him this summer. He knew that Mad Eye's threat had scared them, but they were just claiming that it was too hot and they had to stay where it was cool. He didn't really care one way or the other. He picked up the phone again and dialled Hermione's number without really thinking about it.

It rang six times, but as he was hanging it up, he heard the click that said someone was there. "Hello?" Hermione's voice called, out of breath.

"What, did you run the marathon?" Harry asked in a bemused voice.

"Oh Harry..." she said softly. He could tell she was happier suddenly, and for whatever reason that helped him, too. "You got my letter, did you? What are you going to do?"

"What took you so long to answer the phone?" he asked in response, a small chuckle, one of the first in a long time, escaping his lips as he asked.

"I... I was in the shower, alright?" she said. She sounded embarrassed and Harry decided to drop it.

"I have a surprise for you," he offered after a moment of silence. "Do you want it now, or later?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. "What could you give me now?"

"I could give you your OWL results now..." he offered, trailing off to listen for her reaction.

"What?" she demanded in a shocked tone. "How could you possibly know my results before me? Have you gotten my mail by mistake or something? Why would you open it, Harry? I mean, honestly..."

"I didn't!" Harry said quickly, trying to defend himself from the onslaught. "I didn't get any mail or anything!"

"Then how would you know my results?" She still sounded angry, so Harry decided to drop everything on the line.

"The time wolf I told you about," he explained. "His name is Rozan. He told me your results as I read your letter this morning. He also said that the owls carrying the mail with the results will come in four days."

"How did I do?" she asked after a moment. Before he could answer, she cut him off again. "No, wait, I don't want to know! Is it bad? Would I be happy? Would you be happy? I didn't fail anything, did I? How many OWLs did I get?"

"Hermione," Harry said gently, breaking her string of questions with a small gulp. "I could tell you that, or I could tell you what I know about our new teacher."

He could tell she was struggling with herself now. He started to feel really bad, but before he could offer just to tell her both, she spoke again. "Tell me about the professor," she said quickly. "I'll find out about the OWLs in a couple of days."

"Are you sure? I could just tell you both."

"Harry James Potter don't you dare tell me my OWL results," she said in as strict a voice as he had ever heard her use. "I'm too scared to know them..." she added in a whisper.

"Don't be," Harry offered. Before she could comment, he went on. "The new professor is a friend of Rozan's, and is called the Wanderer. I don't know his real name, but I do know that he isn't human."

"Not human?" Hermione asked. "Then what is he? Part giant like Hagrid? Another centaur? A vampire maybe?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "All I know about him aside from that is that he will only be teaching for a year, and his granddaughter is a first year this year. That, and he wears green."

"Wears green?"

"I just saw glimpses through Rozan's mind as he is trying to strengthen mine."

"You mean it, Harry?" Hermione sounded excited. "Is he teaching you Legilimency and Occlumency?"

"Uh..." Harry trailed off. Rozan had never told him exactly what he was doing. "Yes."

"Harry..." Harry cringed. He knew that tone of voice.

"Alright, he didn't tell me," he admitted. She knew him too well. Ron too. They both knew when he was lying. "But he did say that afterwards I would be able to block things out. I had a dreamless night last night."

"Harry that's wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry turned suddenly as he heard movement downstairs. "Look, Hermione, I'll call you later, alright? Sounds like Dudley's coming upstairs."

"We could set up a time to always talk," Hermione suggested. "I... I mean... if you want to, anyway." She sounded embarrassed at her own suggestion.

"We'll see," he offered with a shrug, even though she couldn't see it.

"Thanks Harry."

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry," Harry offered. "For more than I had ever thought possible." He hung up the phone again before she could reply and went back to his room. Although he did enjoy talking with her again, even if he couldn't see her, it kept bringing back the memory that his foolish actions had nearly gotten her killed at the end of last year.

The actions that had gotten his godfather killed.

When he returned to his room, he found that Rozan was sitting with his head resting in his paws again, looking relaxed. The package from Dumbledore was sitting right in front of him. Harry picked it up, examined the wrapping for a moment, and then tossed it onto his desk.

_You are not going to open it?_

"I don't really feel like seeing anything he has to offer me right now," Harry explained. "Surely you've seen enough of my mind by now to know why." His voice was laced with sarcasm, which he knew the wolf hated, but he wasn't about to stop.

_It could be important._

"Or it could be a waste of time," Harry countered. "Just him trying to keep me happy. Completely in the dark, as usual, but happy."

_You do not wish to be happy?_

"The only thing that could make me happy right now would be knowing what was going on. I highly doubt he packaged the truth in there."  
---------------------  
"Good," the tall being who was kneeling in the tree muttered to himself as he looked in the second story window. Inside, he could plainly see both the time wolf Rozan and the young wizard Harry Potter sitting, talking with one another. "Very good," he corrected himself as he stood up in the tree. "Rozan is helping him."

He leapt down silently, the dark green cloak he wore about his shoulders fluttering behind him. The hood remained up, keeping his facial features hidden, and he turned slowly, his senses alive. Someone was moving nearby.

He crouched to the grass beneath him and ran a hand through it gently, as though trying to take something unseen from its surface. After a moment he stood up and started moving again. Although he was walking through the small suburb in broad daylight, not a single person seemed to take any notice of him. This wasn't because he was forcing them to look away - although that sort of spell was not terribly difficult. It was more because of the pattern of his movements kept him hidden. It wasn't like he was hiding from them, either, but having trained for decades as a waywatcher, it was engrained into him, and even something as simple as walking was lost to him in favour of the stealth such training provided.

He sensed the spell before it actually formed. It was focused through a piece of wood of some kind... mahogany, unless he missed his guess. The spell had a great deal of power behind it, but seemed to have been cast almost lazily. He turned in an instant and found all the muggles in the street to have frozen in their place, and he found himself face to face with a tall wizard with white hair and a very long white beard. The wizard's sparkling blue eyes told him all he needed to know.

"Checking up on the boy, are you?" he asked the wizard calmly, keeping his hands folded before him. He was well aware of how shrouded his cloak made him, but he couldn't stand to wear the wizard robes that the Headmaster had suggested he try to get used to.

"I fear that he would rather not see me at this time, Wanderer."

"Of that, I have no doubt, Dumbledore. But I would have acted in a similar fashion as you did, I imagine. You were trying to protect him. One can never tell, though," the man replied. "Rozan is with him now. I suspect that there will be no need to further train his mind magics this coming year."

"You should be an interesting teacher for them all," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"I should imagine so. Their views on many things are twisted in my mind, though. I have already gone over the notes from previous teachers, and I must say that I am not impressed. True, they are casting some spells rather well, but there is a great deal of things that they still need to learn," he explained.

"Which is why you will be teaching them."

The man nodded, and closed his brown eyes, sealing off all that was showing beneath the hood of the cloak. "I suspect your Hagrid will be pleased this year, as well. I understand that Rozan intends to come with me."

"He will not mind all the humans around him? He told me that he did not enjoy being in my presence earlier... I, of course, did not take offense to it."

"He is adapting, as should be expected," the Wanderer replied. "My kind are growing fewer and fewer, and he will need the bond with humans for him to survive."

"Very well."

"Headmaster," the Wanderer called as the older wizard turned to leave. When the blue eyes turned back to him, the man continued. "You will ensure that the students know that house elves are in no way related to the elves, won't you?"

"There is a note going out at the same time as the OWL results, Talisien, so do not worry."

"Good."  
---------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	2. Family Protection

Chapter Two: Family Protection

"... So you see, Professor, that's why I think it would be best for Harry to either go to Grimmauld Place, to the Burrow, or even to my house, rather than stay at his right now," Hermione finished her long explanation to Dumbledore, who had showed up on her doorstep after she had written him a brief letter.

The old wizard smiled to her gently, his blue eyes twinkling over the rims of his half moon spectacles, but he said nothing right away. Instead, he appeared to be fishing around in one of his pockets. "Ah, here we are..." he said almost sadly, and pulled out a small mirror. It looked rather old, and had a bit of dirt covering the delicate etchings that stemmed along the handle. He handed it to Hermione carefully, and she took it hesitantly, and looked into it. Her own reflection looked back at her, and she had to cover her surprise in what she saw.

She had been expecting to see the young girl that also had looked back at her, but sometime over the past year, that girl had vanished, and been replaced by a young woman. Her eyes danced with life as she looked into the mirror, but darkened at once as she looked up to the Professor again. "And how is this supposed to help?"

"That, my dear Miss Granger, is a magical mirror, and linked to its partner. The partner which, I believe, Harry is currently in possession of," he explained. He then sighed again. "Though I dare say he might have broken it by now in one of his fits of rage. I must say that I agree with you when you say that that house is not fit for him to live at."

"Then?" Hermione asked hopefully.

Dumbledore simply shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but it is the safest place for him right now. So long as he can call that place his home, and return there at least once a year, then he will be safe from Tom."

"From V- Voldemort?" Hermione asked, stumbling over the name still. It still terrified her, but she knew she had to get used to saying it. It was as Harry had always told her and Ron - fear of a name increases the fear of the object.

"Indeed, Miss. Granger," he replied with a kind smile to her. "So, as much as I might like to heed your request, I am afraid that he still has some time left this summer to spend there. A week after his birthday should be enough, and then I will personally see to getting him out of there."

Before Hermione could reply, she heard the phone ringing behind her. Without a word of warning to Dumbledore, she leapt up and grabbed for the phone. "Harry?" she asked at once.

"Yeah, it's me," came Harry's reply over the phone. "Please listen carefully, Hermione..." He sounded desperate suddenly. "I've been found. I'd write an Owl to Ron or Dumbledore or Lupin, but I don't have time. They are downstairs right now. Send help quickly!"

She started to say something back, but the line went dead before she could even acknowledge his request. She looked up to Dumbledore at once, and he read what her face was saying. "What has happened to Harry?" he demanded urgently.

"I don't know!" Hermione replied in a half sob. He had sounded so focused and determined, but she could also hear the fear in his voice. He was badly outnumbered, and somehow she knew it. "But you have to get to his place right away!"

"Rozan is no longer there?"

"You know about Rozan?" Hermione demanded in surprise. She then shook her head. "Never mind, tell me later. I'll come after you to get the answers... but make sure Harry's alright!"

Dumbledore was about to reply, but then simply nodded, and with a loud crack, he vanished from her living room. Hermione picked up the phone again right away and called Harry's number. He had given it to her again the last time they had spoken, and, although they hadn't spoken very often, she was always grateful after each call... though she was starting to get annoyed by his apologizing before hanging up each time.

"This number has been disconnected. Please hang up and try your call again."

She swore as she hung up the phone, and then picked it up again and dialed a cab. It would cost a fortune, and she knew it, but there was no other way for her to get there. She had to know that Harry was alright.

"Wotcher, Hermione!" a voice called from the entrance suddenly. Hermione hung up the phone at once and ran to the hall to find the this time blue hairs Nymphadora Tonks standing there, her wand drawn. "Ready to go?"

"Go?" Hermione asked, confused. What was Tonks doing in her house all of a sudden?

"Dumbledore sent me. Said that you'd want to see it with your own eyes," she explained. Hermione didn't think she had ever heard Tonks sound so serious before. "So I'm taking you."

"Is Harry alright?"

Tonks shook her head as she took Hermione's hand. "We don't know."  
----------------------  
Harry hung up the phone as quietly as he could, though it still sounded like a gunshot in his ears. Rozan was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down, growling softly. He had never seen the time wolf looking so agitated. It didn't take a genius to figure out why, either.

Rozan had told him earlier that eight Death Eaters were on their way to try and kill him. Harry's first instinct was to owl the Order, but Rozan's growls told him that he didn't have time. Hermione knew, and she would know what to do next.

Harry's wand was at the ready as he stepped closer to the top of the stairs. For some reason, he was glad that the Dursley's were out admiring new cars, as that meant he was home alone, and could do whatever he had to to the Death Eaters without worry.

As the first head came into view, Harry ducked back as Rozan growled louder. _Keep yourself safe. I will bring him here._

_Who?_ Harry thought as loudly as he could to try and make sure the time wolf heard his thoughts.

_The Wanderer._ As soon as the words crept into his mind, the time wolf faded from view in an instant. The Death Eater who had been shocked by the creature apparently came out of his stupor suddenly, as his wand was pointing at Harry.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, thrusting his wand towards his attacker before he could say anything. The Death Eater was thrown backwards by the curse, and Harry ducked back to his room and slammed the door shut. "Great wizard indeed... hiding like a coward in his room..."

"Reducio!" Harry covered his face as his door was blown apart, and he found himself face to face with three more Death Eaters. "Stupe-"

"Protego!" Harry shouted immediately, throwing up the own shield he could think of. The stunner rebounded off the shield and struck the caster, knocking him backwards. The other two also had their wands trained on him, but before he could react, a flash of green knocked him backwards and he landed hard on the ground.

When he looked up, he saw someone standing in front of him wearing a long dark green cloak with a hood covering his head. He could see nothing going on in front of him. "Lessan Tabawere!" the man cried, and a tremendous blast of lightning shot from his form and smashed the two standing Death Eaters backwards into the wall on the other side of the corridor, where they slumped over and lay unmoving. He turned around to Harry instantly, and held a hand out to haul him back to his feet. "You alright?"

"Y... Yeah..." Harry replied. He had no idea who the man before him was, but the fact that he was almost as hidden as any Death Eater didn't do much for his nerves.

"Grab what you'll need quickly," the man suggested. "We don't have much time before the rest of them come upstairs to see what caused that lightning."

"What I need?"

"For the school year, Mister Potter, for school!" the man said impatiently. "Quickly!"

School had been the furthest thing from his mind when Rozan had warned him of the upcoming assault just moments before it had happened, and he thought it odd to have been brought up all of a sudden, but he didn't argue. He grabbed his books that he on his desk and threw them roughly into his trunk. He then threw the letters and packages on his desk in with it, and tossed all the clothes he could get his hands on, including his Hogwarts robes in as well. Once he was done, he slammed the trunk shut and ripped open the floorboards to grab his Firebolt and broom polishing kit.

"Your owl has been set free. She'll met us where we are going, if she's that well trained," the man explained quickly when he saw Harry turn to the empty cage. "We can replace the cage later." Before he could do anything else, noise behind him caused him to turn in an instant.

Harry distinctly heard the sound of metal being drawn across something suddenly, and then three definitive thuds, which implied three Death Eaters had just fallen. The man turned again quickly and grabbed one of Harry's shoulders and put a hand on the trunk.

Although he did not feel the nauseating pull in his naval this time, he knew that they were travelling magically. As the room faded around them, he saw the three Death Eaters in the hall, who were all cut in half at the waist. He then saw more come upstairs and a bright flash of green light, but then they were gone. All he knew for certain was that Rozan had underestimated numbers... or more had arrived.

He awoke some time later with a splitting headache. He felt a damp cloth against his forehead, and reached up a hand to remove it before opening his eyes.

"So, the young boy awakes at last," a soft female voice said from beside him. The voice was kind and concerned, but Harry didn't really care about that right then. All he knew was that his head hurt a lot, and for once it had nothing to do with his blasted scar.

He opened his eyes and was just about to tell the woman off when he stopped mid thought as he looked at her. She looked like a child, younger than him for certain, but she had long pointed ears and a thinner face than he had ever seen. Her soft brown eyes were not the chocolate brown that he had started to associate with Hermione's eyes, but they were fairly close. The other thing that really stood out in his mind were her clothes. She was wearing a dark green tunic and a brown skirt, both of which looked almost like they had been made from living plants. Harry could have sworn he saw leaves in her tunic.

"Yeah... I guess so..." he managed after a moment when he realized he was probably staring at her.

"Kailyn's going to be sooo upset," the girl said with a giggle. "She wanted to be the one who was watching over you when you woke up."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked irritably, his headache getting the better of him.

"She means, dear Mister Potter, that we have had a watch over you for the passed two days as we waited for you to awaken," a new voice said from the doorway. Harry looked up and saw a woman with long golden hair and green eyes with red flakes in them. She, too, had long pointed ears and a thin face, but she was wearing a living green dress instead of the tunic and skirt combination. "I'm sure my husband meant you no harm, but it appears that humans are not used to travelling such distances through space."

"Your husband?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused. "Look, what's going on? Where am I?"

The woman smiled tolerantly at him, as though she had expected a much larger outburst. "I can understand your concern, but you are perfectly safe here. In fact, you are one of the first human to grace this village in almost a hundred years." At Harry's confused expression, she grinned more broadly. "But, of course, that doesn't mean much to you, does it? You are in the village of Vlaine, in the forest of Noyadin. The forest of the elves."  
-------------------  
"Blimey, they sure did a number of this place, didn't they?" a tall wizard that Hermione didn't recognize asked as he stepped over the rubble that remained of Number Four Privet Drive. "There's almost nothing left. They even left their own inside when they destroyed it. It all happened so fast, there was nothing any of us could do... I just wish I knew how they arrived, when not even we could apparate directly here."

Dumbledore's hand on her shoulder was all that was keeping Hermione from screaming at the sight before her. There were still small flames licking at what little remained of the wood in the house, but otherwise, everything was in ruins. Her best friend's house was destroyed... utterly and completely destroyed.

With Tonks on her other side, she could feel the pain that the young Auror was facing looking at the mess. Tonks was trying to keep Hermione's spirits up, but with failing spirits of her own, she wasn't doing much good. "Wotcher, Gilive!" she called to the wizard who had stepped out of the rubble. "Please give us good news..." she added, looking at the other Auror carefully, trying to read him.

Gilive looked back to the house and shook his head. "Well, we found at least five bodies of Death Eaters in there, so we know that Harry did a number on them, at least. It looks like he stunned them, but the others just left them to die anyway. We're still sorting through the rest."

"Please, Gilive," Hermione said, breaking free of the grasps of her professor and the Auror. "Please... what about Harry? Is he alright?"

The man shook his head as he looked back to the ruined house. "We don't know, lass."

Hermione could feel that she was on the verge of tears, but clenching her jaw, she nodding and started to walk forward to help search. If Harry was still alive in that mess, then she wasn't about to let him suffer. She would find him, and they would save him. She shook off the hand that tried to stop her, and as she started moving bricks and burnt wood, she saw that both Dumbledore and Tonks were helping.

She was vaguely aware of others appearing as well, and by the time Mrs. Weasley took her gently aware from the rubble to rest, she could barely keep her eyes open, she was so tired. There had been no sign yet. As she sank into one of the chairs that had been set up in the no-muggle zone around the house, she knew that the tears she had fought back had finally started to leak out of her eyes, and she closed them tightly, trying to will the pain away. _So... this is how Harry felt at the end of last year..._ she thought, hiccuping and folding her head into her hands.

"Hey," a voice said from beside her. She looked up slowly and found herself looking to a freckled faced, red haired boy about her age. "I just got here, but I thought you could use more help then them right now."

"Ron..." she whispered, and then broke down completely, her body wracked with terrible sobs. "Ron... Harry's... Harry's de-"

"No," Ron said fiercely before she could finish the thought. "No! Harry is alive and fine and probably hiding somewhere afraid that he's going to get punished for underaged magic again." He voice was strained, but he wasn't showing any fear in his face. "I mean, come on, this is Harry we're talking about here, remember?"

"I... I know..." she managed. Ginny appeared next to her as though out of nowhere with a blanket, which she draped over Hermione's shoulders, and then wrapped the girl in a hug. "Thanks Ginny..."

"He'll be fine," the red haired girl whispered to her. "It's like Ron said. He ran off before after casting magic, remember?"

The memory of Harry telling the story of how he blew up his aunt brought a brief smile to her face before it faded again. "He... he called to warn me he was terrified!" she managed. "He said that they had found him."

"He'll be fine," Ron said fiercely, looking back to the ruins of the house that he had seen twice when rescuing Harry from it in previous summers. "But I might just kill him myself when he comes strolling back!" If there had been any objective observers present, then it would have been obvious that he was trying to convince himself at the same time.

"And to think that three days ago, I was worried about my OWL results more than anything else..." Hermione whispered. Her comment actually brought a grin to both of the Weasley's faces.

"That's our Hermione," Ron said with a smile. "Now, I'll leave you here with Ginny, and bring you something to drink, and then I'm going to start helping... if Mum'll let me, that is," he added darkly, looking over the scene again.

Once Ron was out of earshot, Ginny leaned a little closer to Hermione. "You seem really shaken up by this whole thing," she whispered. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

Hermione looked sharply to Ginny, but the tears on her face only made that look pathetic. "He asked for help from me, and I couldn't give it to him..."

"But how did he 'call' you anyway? And why would he call you, and not, say, Dumbledore, or Lupin?" Ginny pressed.

"He used a telephone, Ginny," Hermione explained, desperately trying to get the other girl to absolve her of the guilt that she felt. She had failed her best friend, even after he had come to her rescue so many times in the past. 'Ron's your best friend too...' a small voice said in the back of her mind. 'But Harry's different,' another voice pointed out, which only made her start to cry all over again.

"Professor?" Ron called from near the table that had been set up to hand out food. He was holding something up, but neither Ginny nor Hermione could see what it was from where they were. "What is this?" he asked.

Dumbledore came over to him almost at once, and visibly seemed to relax. "That, Mister Weasley, is very good news indeed."  
-----------------------  
"Granddad told me all sorts of things about school, Harry," a girl who looked to be about eleven said to him from the seat next to his bed. Although he had woken up some time ago, apparently the healer thought it wisest for him to stay in bed for a while before moving right away. "Is it true that they have a hat that'll divide us up into houses?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yup," he explained to the blonde haired child. Her ears weren't nearly as pointed as the other elves that he had seen, and when he had asked her about it, she had said that she was only about a quarter elf anyway. "There's Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Each house prizes different qualities above others."

"He said that you are in Gryffindor, and well suited there. But he wouldn't tell me why," she said, almost pouting to him. "Could you tell me?"

Briefly, for the first time since Rozan had given him help with what he called mind magics, an image of Sirius falling through the Veil of Death at the Department of Mysteries flashed through his mind. "Not really, Kailyn," he said sadly. "They don't have a house for fools."

"He told me that you tried to stop something terrible from happening," Kailyn said softly, obviously sensing his distress. "You tried to take on Voldemort."

Harry looked to the child in surprise. He only knew of a couple of people who could say the dark wizard's name without fear, and he hadn't expected a child to be one of them. "Why do you say his name, and not You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Why?" Kailyn asked, confused. "He never told me much about him. He just said that he was a danger, and that I would have to be careful while at the school, just in case."

Harry smiled sadly. He had been in the same boat she was in when he had started at Hogwarts. At least she didn't have some blasted prophecy hanging over her head involving murder.

"He also said, unless I'm mistaken, that you were not to bother Harry about his time at school," the elfwoman from before explained. Harry had learned from Kailyn that her name was Fey. "So off you go, child, before he finds out." Once Kailyn finally agreed to leave, she looked back to Harry and sighed. "I think I spoil her too much, but she shouldn't have bothered you with things like that."

Harry shook his head. "No, it's alright. I was just the same as her when I started," he explained. "But with some help of a few friends..." he suddenly trailed off as he realized something terrible. No one knew where he was, and he had left Hermione with a serious warning. "I... I have to let them know I'm alright!" he said quickly, trying to get out of bed again. Fey did not stop him until he was at the door.

"We dispatched a waywatcher as soon as Talisien arrived with you to let them know what happened. He will be even faster than your snowy owl Hedwig."

"How did you know her name?" Harry asked, confused.

"Well, we are creatures of the forest, as you are a creature of the open plains," Fey explained kindly. "But we all share this world, as Dumbledore pointed out to my husband, and now that I have managed to figure out how to run this place with him busy, he will be free to teach for the year."

Harry thought back to the massive lightning spell that the elf she was referring to had used, and he nodded. "I expect we'll learn a lot from him," he said. "Hopefully something that will help."

"Hmm," she said with a sad nod. "That terrible prophecy. Kailyn doesn't know about it, by the way," she added after a moment. "But my husband will do all he can to help you."

"Couldn't..." Harry trailed off, not meeting her eye.

"Couldn't he just kill Voldemort?" Fey asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder knowingly. She had an amazing mother's sense about her, as though she had been caring for people for ages. "No. He is as bound by that prophecy as you are. In a fight, he could be lost, and Vlaine would suffer horribly."

"I guess he's pretty important, isn't he?"

"They don't call him the Ranger of All the Land for nothing, you know?" she said with a chuckle. "Though... to be fair, I guess I called him that first so many years ago now." She saw almost at once that she hadn't answered his question, and one thing that Harry had found himself enjoying in the foreign environment was how none of the elves seemed to hide anything from him. "He is the lord of these lands. King of Noyadin."  
---------------------------  
Hermione woke with a start, and immediately cursed herself for falling asleep. Although most of the Aurors who had come to look for Harry were now gone, there were still a couple hanging about, as though waiting for his return. Dumbledore had said that he was in good hands, though even he had to admit that he didn't know where he was. She had insisted on staying with the Aurors, just so she could see for herself when he arrived.

_Bloody hell... can't stay awake for more than a couple of hours at a time right now..._ she thought to herself. If things were different, she might have found it amusing that she was swearing to herself, but with no word about Harry still, it wasn't working out. Her parents were on their way home now, and would be by to pick her up the next day.

Ron had also stayed, insisting that he believed in his best friend, and that he was going to be the first to give him a black eye for making them worry so much about him. However, Hermione had seen him frantically searching through the rubble anyway when he had thought she was sleeping.

Luna had showed up with Ginny at one point, but after an offhanded comment about symbols, she left again, apparently back to Grimmauld place. Now, she could see Ron sorting through rock and wood again, as though trying to find some evidence, something of Harry's that could say one way or the other.

"Excuse me, miss," a soft voice said from beside her suddenly. Whoever had come up beside her had been moving so quietly she hadn't heard them approach, and to say she had been startled wasn't nearly strong enough, but she thanked her lucky stars that she didn't scream. "Are you a friend of Mister Potter's?"

"Harry?" she asked at once, turning to the one who was speaking to her. She could only stare at the face that was there, though. The man had long pointed ears and a thin face, and looked about as stacked as Ron, who was still tall and lanky, but with almost no muscle to speak of. To say he didn't look strong was wrong, though... he looked wiry but seemed to have a lot of strength anyway. "What do you know about him?"

"I was asked to tell his closest friends something important. Are you one of them?"

"Of course I am!" Hermione said desperately in a louder voice than she had intended. "He means so much to me," she said quickly. "Where is he? Is he alright? Do you know what happened here?"

"Hermione," Ron's voice said from beside her. "Let him speak. Harry means a lot to all of us," he added when she looked behind her and found him standing there with Ginny, Luna, and Tonks, who was one of the Aurors who had volunteered to stay behind. "And if you keep asking him questions, then we'll never hear any answers."

Hermione flushed at his accusation, but stayed silent. "You are his friends, then?" the man asked.

"Yes," Hermione snapped angrily, her sleep deprivation showing its ugly head.

The man nodded politely to her anyway, and smiled. "Harry is in good hands. Some of the best hands in our village, I believe. As soon as he is able to travel again, I suspect your Dumbledore will have us bring him to the secret place," he explained, unable to say the address of the house itself.

"He's... he's with the elves?" Hermione asked with a small gasp.

The man smiled to her. "You must be Miss Granger... I was told you were as sharp as a blade, but I guess now I've seen it firsthand. Yes, he is with the elves, in Vlaine. Like I said, in good hands. No dark wizard has ever set foot within the village. They have come to battlefields nearby, but never have they breached the boundaries."

"So..." Ginny said. "He's safe there, I take it?"

"Not for very long, I'm afraid," the elf replied gently.

"But... you just said that..." Ron spluttered.

"It has not happened yet, but as the Wanderer has told me, Voldemort is not your everyday ordinary dark wizard."

"There are everyday ordinary dark wizards?" Ron asked, perplexed, and looked to Luna, who seemed to have been the only one who heard his question.

"I haven't heard of them, Ronald, but then again, I haven't heard of many things in this great wonderful world. My father is always telling me to keep an open mind, though," she explained in her almost otherworldly voice. Ron looked into her grey eyes for a moment before shaking his head with wonder and looking back to the elf, who seemed to be looking at Hermione again.

"Yes, he is the same," the elf explained.

"The same what?" Ron asked.

"Honestly Ron!" Ginny exclaimed. "Weren't you paying attention? Too busy getting lost in your girlfriend's eyes?"

"Hey, I told you-"

"He said that the Wanderer he just spoke of is the same one that's going to be teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts this year," Hermione explained.

"Hang on," Ginny interrupted. "How did you know about him before?"

"Harry told me," she said quickly before looking to the elf again. "He is alright for now, though, right?"

The elf nodded. "He will be coming to Diagon Alley on the 5th of August to pick up his supplies with the Wanderer, and then will be moving straight to that place until the school year starts. But it could be earlier than that. Stick with your current plans of when you are going, and we will do what we can from our end." The elf then stood up again. "I must be returning. They are probably wondering why I have been gone for so long as it is," he explained. With a simple nod and a loud crack later, he had apparated away.

Hermione sighed in relief as the tension that had been building in her ever since Harry's last phone call washed out of her. She froze again when she found the eyes of Tonks, Ginny, and Ron all on her, while Luna was looking straight up into the sky as though looking for something.

"And just when did Harry tell you anything, Hermione?" Ron prodded her. "Because he hasn't sent us even one ruddy line of parchment all summer!"

"Yeah, Hermione," Tonks said with a wink to her. As she winked, her hair turned the vibrant pink that everyone was used to seeing Tonks with, and then she went on. "Something going on between the two of you that we should know about?"

"He hasn't sent me any owls either!" Hermione objected at once. "We spoke on the phone a couple of times, and that was it! We're friends, isn't that normal?" So maybe it was more than just a couple of times, but it wasn't more than five... and he hadn't called at all for two days before the attack, just a couple of times each day beforehand.

"But why would he speak to you and not to any of us?" Ginny demanded. She seemed angry, and inwardly Hermione groaned. Maybe the youngest Weasley hadn't given up her crush on Harry entirely, and she didn't really feel like fighting with her about a simple misunderstanding.

"Maybe because I have a telephone, and none of you do?"

"We have a telephone," Luna said dreamily. "Father had one put in because some of our writers use so many muggle inventions..."

"Does Harry have your number?" Hermione pointed out.

"I don't think so..."

"There you go then," Hermione said at once as she yawned widely. "I must say, I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep, now that we know Harry's safe."

"An elven teacher should be able to tell me about the Snorkaks," Luna said after a moment of silence. "It should be a good year, I think..."

Hermione kept herself from snorting. "He didn't assign a textbook, you know," she couldn't help but point out. "Even though we have NEWTs next year and all..."

"Yeah," Ron agreed, which caught her offguard. What he said next, though, confirmed that it was still Ron, and not someone pretending to be him. "Means we'll have less studying in that class, and more time for Quidditch."

"You will tell us all about the two phone calls you've gotten, right?" Ginny prompted her. "Because anyone with half a brain cell in their heads still knows that his notes to Lupin are bullocks."

Hermione sighed. "He apologized to me a few times, and asked me about my OWL results, which I still haven't gotten," she explained. She didn't want to mention the time wolf to them, nor how sweet he had sounded to her when he had asked her how she was doing in the second to last call. "And the last call was him in trouble, talking about how 'they' had found him."

"He still blames himself for his godfather's death, doesn't he?" Luna asked. "I thought I had helped him last year... he seemed to be better after I spoke to him, anyway... _Death, marvelous death, does not exist to the naked eye..._" She sang the last part as she turned away from them and wandered back to the rubble.

"I still think she's a bit Loony," Ron muttered under his breath.  
--------------------


	3. Chance Meetings

Chapter Three: Chance Meetings

"It is never so much a goodbye, as a simple farewell. It is not as though you will never see each other again."

Fey's words were still ringing in Harry's ears when the two of them stepped out of the small alleyway within Diagon Alley where they had appeared moments earlier. She had told this to an upset Kailyn, who had a lot that she had wanted to talk to Harry about still. He wondered briefly if the elfwoman had any idea the effects of her words on him or not, and as he chanced a quick glance to her face to see if she was watching him, he saw a smile pulling at her lips.

"It has been a very long time since I've come to a place like this," she explained when she saw him watching her. She was wearing her long green living dress that he had seen her for the first time in, and had a small golden circlet on the top of her long golden hair. He also noticed for the first time that she had a ring on one hand, a bracelet on one wrist, and was wearing a necklace - and all the jewelry looked older than any piece that he had ever seen before. "It should be interesting to find what we are looking for."

"Just what are we looking for?" Harry asked. It was almost too large a change for him to be able to ask any question that he wanted to, and knowing full well that he would get a complete answer.

"I need to get a few items repaired," she explained. She then motioned further down the street. "I believe it will be this way. After that, we will be looking for your friends, whom I believe Talisien said would be here today doing their shopping."

As the two walked down the street, Harry groaned to himself as he saw the stares that followed them. A few people tried to walk up to speak with him, and more than once he heard whispers about "That's the Boy-Who-Lived!" and "If anyone would know how to protect their homes, it would be him!"

He was more surprised, however, by how many people seemed to be paying attention to the elfwoman more than to him. He knew from previous experience that elves were rare, so he shouldn't have been too surprised, but it seemed that a lot of wizards in the small community at least knew of her, even if they didn't know who she was. "It's that the Queen of Vlaine?" "What would she be doing with the Boy-Who-Lived?" "Has she brought more supplies from the hidden forest?"

Although a lot of people seemed to be talking about them, no one actually came up to them, and when they entered the small shop that held the sign "Odds and Ends for the Odds and Ends" over top in crooked writing, he couldn't help but ask why.

"It is a simple enough spell to use when one is in a hurry," Fey told him simply. "Keeps people at bay, unless you wish to speak with them. My husband uses it all the time at balls and formal events. He hates them with a passion."

"It is indeed an honour to be graced by your presence, my lady," a small man called from behind the counter as the two approached it. "I trust all is well within the forest?"

Upon closer inspection, Harry realized that the man was not entirely human, though he definitely wasn't all elf, either. Another half breed, he supposed, which was why he had never really noticed it before. It was hard to spot if one wasn't looking. That, and he had never actually come into the store before.

"It is indeed, Vinital," she said with a smile. "But I was wondering if I might be able to borrow your skills for a moment. I have two items which are in desperate need of repairs or refinement, and speed is of the essence."

Vinital nodded and nervously fiddled with the chain that was around his neck as she held out an arm to him. Harry was startled to see an invisibility cloak draped over her arm, and in her hand was a broken mirror. And old, chipped, dirty, broken mirror.

"Hey!" Harry said suddenly as he clued in. "Those are mine!"

Fey looked at him as though considering him for a moment before replying. "Indeed they are, Harry, but they need fixing," she said. "The mirror should never have been broken, and the cloak is getting too short for you to fit under."

Harry had to admit that both facts were true as the man took them and went out back through the left door. As soon as it had banged shut, though, he returned through the right door and placed both items on the counter. The mirror had been replaced, and Harry could tell that there was more fabric as a part of the cloak.

"Playing with time," he muttered to himself, remembering his own experiences with time travel in his third year at Hogwarts. Thoughts on such matters, however, reminded him of the loss of his godfather all over again, which in turn reminded him of all the pain and suffering he had caused his classmates in the previous year.

"Calm your mind," Fey said at once in a tone that caught him offguard. She had never spoken to him in anything other than a gentle voice, but this one was harsh and strict. "Do not let it be clouded by past mistakes." She then looked back to Vinital before he could reply. "Thank you, Vinital. How much do I owe you?"

"My lady, just being given the chance to gaze on your visage is payment enough. Though I wouldn't mind a closer look at your necklace, if you have an extra minute or two..."

"I will not take it off," she said simply, and held it up to him as close as she could get it without removing the chain. "It is a symbol of my bonds."

"Yes, yes," Vinital muttered to himself. "Like the ring and bracelet, too, I know. He has fine taste, you know..."

Fey smiled indulgently to him. "I know. He picked me, didn't he?"

"Ah... my lady, that's not quite what I..."

She picked up the items as he was stumbling over his words, and then handed them to Harry. "Our next stop is to find your friends, I believe."

Harry stopped walking as he looked into the mirror than she had just handed to him. He could see several different faces looking back at him suddenly, but as he looked a little closer, he found that he could only see his own. He looked tired, but more alive than he had felt in a long time. The time he had spent, the few days anyway, within the safety of the forest had apparently done him some good. His black hair was still as messy as ever, and the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, which was a little red from all the pain that had pulsed through it a couple of months earlier, was still clear as day.

"I say Harry, this a new hobby of yours?"

"I don't know, mate, I'd say this must be an impostor... couldn't possibly be our Harry. Not looking like that and all, after we heard he was half dead somewhere!"

Harry looked up in surprise to find himself looking at the entrance to a very colourful shop with three large W's painted on the glass window. Two tall red haired boys were standing in the doorway looking at him, bemused expressions on their faces.

"I think our backer's a little nuts, Fred."

"If he wasn't, he wouldn't have backed us, remember George?"

"True, true," the first boy muttered.

"Hey you two," Harry said with a grin. It looked like their joke shop was still a large success, as there were dozens of witches and wizards inside looking about. "Long time no see."

"You could say that again. Care to explain just what happened? We have a few minutes, if you've got the time, anyway."

"What George means, Harry, is that we are going to take you inside and we want the full story before we are forced to hear Mum's watered down version of events."

Harry couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "Alright. But first, I'd like you to meet..." he stopped as he looked up to Fey to introduce her, and found her gone. He turned quickly to try and find her, but she was no where in sight. When he turned back to the Weasley twins, they looked confused. "Uh... never mind."

Once Harry had told the twins what had happened - leaving out a few parts like Rozan and Kailyn - they seemed suitably impressed. "Now, you will have to tell us how you managed to get to the middle of Diagon Alley without attracting a crowd, Harry," Fred said after a moment had passed.

"Where are your manners, Fred?" George asked in a surprised tone as he held out a platter of sweets to Harry. "Hungry?"

Looking at the tray, Harry recognized at least one of the candies as Yellow Canary Drops, and had the sneaking suspicion that they were trying to pull one up on him. "Not right now thanks," he said. "But you two go ahead."

"He's onto us already, George." The first twin clouted the second on the shoulder, and then grasped Harry's as well. "You did us a great favour, you know, Harry. Glad you're as sharp as always."

Harry grinned again, and then stood up. "Look, I've got to try and find the others out there. I understand that Ron and Hermione at least are picking up their books right now, and I should try and catch up with them."

Both twins nodded. "Alright. Need a guard to get there?"

"Why?"

The two exchanged glances, and then shook their heads in unison. "You're really out of it, mate. Everyone's asking about you. Seems like everyone wants to hear your story first hand, that's all. Be a blimey miracle if you got to the bookstore in one piece."

"I'll run," Harry promised them, and then stepped outside.

True to his word, he ran down the street to Flourish and Blotts as fast as he could. True to their word, a lot of people were trying to catch him as he went for what they all seemed to call "A quick word." He ignored them all and actually slammed the door shut behind him when he entered, causing everyone who was in the store to look to the entrance.

"Harry?" He looked over quickly to where he heard Ron's voice, but saw nothing except a pair of arms grabbing him tightly and swinging him around.

"Thank god you're alright... oh Harry... we were so worried!" Hermione said urgently to him as she held him. She released him after a moment, and he grinned as Ron clouted him on the shoulder. His friends had grown some over the summer - Ron was much taller again, and he was sure that his friend was going to be pushing six feet any day. Hermione looked... well... he couldn't really describe how she looked, except amazing. She had grown up quite a bit, and had filled out as a young woman more than anything over the summer.

"I'm fine," he reassured her quickly.

"Sure you are," Ginny said from behind him as she, too, gave him a quick hug. "Just like every message to Lupin, right?"

Harry's mood darkened almost at once, but before he could reply, Hermione had pulled out a letter from he pocket. "Harry, I got my OWL's a few days ago while you were missing!" she exclaimed, holding it out for him to look at. "I got Outstanding on my theory and practical of Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts - though I think that would be because of you more than anything else - History of Magic, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy! I only got an Exceeds Expectations in Astrology, though... that was so unfair! How were we supposed to concentrate during all that?"

She was so animated in her discussion that it was obvious that she was trying to drop a hint to him, and he understood pretty quickly. She hadn't told the others what they had talked about on the phone, and he should play along. "That's great, Hermione!" he exclaimed as he looked over the letter. "Fourteen Outstandings out of sixteen? That has to be a new record! And sixteen out of sixteen OWL's?"

"Mine's not quite so good, but I'm happy," Ron explained as he pulled out his letter. "I mean, an Outstanding in my theory and practical Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Outstanding in my theory of Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration, Exceeds Expectations for practical for them, and Acceptable in theory and practical Potions, Divination and History."

"So that's what, ten OWL's then? Your Mum must be thrilled."

"Bill and Charlie did better," Ron grinned to him. "But yeah, she's happy." He then sighed. "But I guess I can't go for Auror... I didn't make it with Potions."

"Any idea how I did?" Harry asked, looking to both of them in turn.

"I have your letter right here," Luna's dreamy voice sounded from behind Ginny, and she stepped out from behind a stack of books. "Ronald dropped it earlier, and I picked it up for you."

"Er... thanks," Harry said with a smile to her. "How did you do?"

"Nine OWL's, more than I expected. Don't know what I'm going to do with them, though..."

Harry nodded simply and ripped open his letter. He could practically feel his eyes bulge out as he looked it over. "I got an O in Potions! An O!" he said excitedly. "In both parts! Same as Defense Against the Dark Arts, Magical Creatures, and Charms, and an E in Transfiguration, Herbology and Astrology... guess I tied you there, Hermione," he said teasingly. He then looked back. "And the less said about History the better."

"Well, it looked like we all avoided any Trolls," Hermione said. "Good job, Harry."

"Hang on, mate, what about Divination? And what did you get in History?" Ron asked him as he crumpled his letter and shoved it into his pocket.

"Doesn't matter," Harry said quickly. "So, anyone have a book list?"

"Accio parchment!" Ron said as drew his wand deftly. The piece of paper slipped out of Harry's hand and into his own. "Wow..." he breathed. "Didn't think that would actually work..."

"Give that back, Ron!"

"Woah... they took the mickey right out of you for those, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Harry mumbled, grabbing at it again. He was about to shove it back in his pocket again, but then sighed and handed it to Hermione, who was looking back and forth and making it obvious that she wanted to know the rest of his results.

"Trolls, Harry?" she asked in surprise. "I'm... I mean I'm sorry - I didn't mean-"

"Never mind, Hermione," he said quickly. "Doesn't matter. I didn't need them for an Auror position anyway."

There was an unsteady silence in the group, and then Hermione pulled out the book list for the term. For sixth years, it had the complete book list for all years as well as any available courses for them listed on it. "Do you know what you're taking this year, Harry?"

"Uh..."

"Well, you said Auror, right?" she asked as though he hadn't said anything. "So Transfiguration, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and one extra."

"Magical Creatures, obviously," he said quickly. "Hagrid's still the teacher, right?"

"Um, I guess so," she said, biting her lip as though trying to decide something.

"He's a good teacher, Hermione," Ron said quickly. "So just take the class already!"

"I'm already taking an extra class, though," she pointed out. "I'm sticking with Arithmancy."

"Yeah, well I'm just in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Magical Creatures, and I guess Herbology," Ron said a little glumly. He then brightened up. "But I have to say, not taking anything from Snape this year is going to be sweet!"

"Take it, Hermione," Harry said quickly. "You won't regret it. Trust me." He found himself looking deeply into her chocolate brown eyes as she looked to him, and she nodded slowly. "It'll be worth it."

"So where were you, anyway?" Ginny asked as they started to look for their books.

Harry looked around as though trying to see who could be listening, and then shook his head. "I'll tell you all later, alright? Everyone here staying at the same place?"

"Luna's not," Ron pointed out. "But I'll tell you later, alright?"

"Thank you, Ronald." He blushed almost as red as his hair as she looked at him, and Harry raised an eyebrow to Hermione to ask the question without words. She shrugged in response, and they went back to looking.

In the end, they ended up with a good stack of books. The Standard Book of Spells Grade Six, which contained spells that they could need for any class, Transfiguring Your Mouse into a Dolphin and Other Complex Animals for their transfiguration class, Advanced Charms - obviously for charms, and Mystical and Rare Creatures of the Lost World for Hagrid's class. They were all pleased to note that this time, at least, the book was not going to try and eat them. Harry and Hermione both picked up copies of NEWT Level Dangerous Potions, and Hermione also picked up Advanced Arithmancy and the Devoted, while Ron got the Plants that Were Thought to be Lost text.

"So, its a relief not to have a book for the Defense Against the Dark Arts, eh Harry?" Ron asked with a wink to his friend behind Hermione's back. She turned around in an instant.

"What do you mean a relief? Just how are we supposed to get ready if we don't even have a text book to look over first? I mean, with NEWTs only a year away and all, what is he playing at?"

"She does this every time its mentioned," Ron explained to Harry, completely ignoring her statement. Harry nodded, but then looked to her anyway.

"I'm sure he has his reasons."

"Any idea who it is yet?" Ron asked them both. Hermione shook her head, and Harry followed suit, figuring it best to play along with her story for whatever reason.

As the group left the store, a snide voice caught their attention, and Harry felt his muscles tense in an instant. "So, it's Potter with the Mudblood, two Weasels, and Loony Lovegood..." The voice made his skin crawl, and the group all saw Malfoy standing further down the street, flanked by his two goons on either side.

"Get lost, Malfoy!" Ron snapped at once.

"I will make sure you pay, Potter, for putting my father in jail. Mark my words, I will get you sometime during the year. Remember, I'm still a Prefect, while you're just a run of the mill student who has to listen to my commands."

"Yeah," Harry said with a bit of heat in his voice. "And you are also still a git." He turned to walk away from Malfoy towards the exit to Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron, but froze when he heard Hermione and Ginny both scream a warning to him.

He turned in an instant as he dropped his books and pulled his wand out. "Protego!" he shouted as he held his wand before him. He lowered it almost at once, however, as he took in the scene before him.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all pressed up against the wall of Flourish and Blotts, held there by a sticky yellowish substance. The smell of tree sap was almost overpowering. Harry caught a glimpse of green as he watched, but that was all that seemed out of place.

"What just happened?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"What was that spell?" Hermione added.

Harry shook his head. "I didn't do that..."

"He put up a Shielding Charm," Luna pointed out. "It must have been their own spells."

"Attacking while you had your back turned!" Ginny said harshly. She looked almost as furious as Harry felt inside. "Oh, I wish a Professor had been around to see that... I bet he wouldn't even get a chance to come back to Hogwarts this year!"

Harry didn't reply as he caught sight of a raven haired girl further down the street. She looked up to him, and they made brief eye contact for a moment before she looked away and continued on her way. Hermione seemed to have noticed, as she jabbed him in the arm.

"Wasn't that..."

"Yeah," Harry replied. "That was Cho. So?"

"It never would have worked out, Harry," she said reassuringly.

Harry just shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he countered. "That sort of thing is one of the furthest from my mind right now." 'The fact that I have to kill or be killed sort of takes precedence...' he thought to himself. After a moment of looking at the three of them stuck to the wall, Harry turned to the others. "Do you reckon that the DA will keep going this year?"

"If Dumbledore says so, then I suppose so. But we should have a competent teacher this year, right Harry?" Hermione asked, almost anxious to hear his answer.

"I expect that we will, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the teaching last year." 'It was just what came about because of it...'

"It was just what came afterwards that wasn't so great, right mate?" Ron pointed out the very thought that had been on Harry's mind.

"I'm going to go pick up a couple of more books, then," Harry explained. "I guess I'll see you all at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"I'll help you, Harry," Hermione offered. "I know where all the best books are in there, anyway," she pointed out when the others looked to her.

"That's our Hermione," Ron said with a grin. "Not only has she memorized every book she's ever read, she also did it to the bloody store, too..."

Once the two were inside the store again, and both were sure that the others had moved on, they turned to one another right away.

"So what happened?"

"You didn't tell them anything, did you?"

They both stopped, and Harry grinned. "You first."

"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked in a whisper. "I was so worried... Dumbledore was at my house when you called - I was trying to convince him to let you leave your house early this year - and then you called and he went to help, but he couldn't! No one could get very close to your house at all with apparation - something I expect the Death Eaters had a hand in - and then you vanished!"

"Hermione," Harry said, interrupting her before she could go on. When she looked to him, almost surprised that he had stopped her, he shrugged. "Rozan saved my life. No question. And then the Wanderer showed up and took me away before the house blew apart. I got all my things out, though."

"You've met the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Hermione said excitedly. "What's he like? Is he going to be good? Really good? _Lupin_ good?"

Harry thought back to the only times he had seen the elf. The lightning spell came instantly to mind. "Yeah... he's good alright. He should be able to teach us a few things. I'd expect he could even teach Dumbledore a bit!"

She nodded as though trying to commit the information to memory, and then smiled to him. "I didn't want to tell them how often we had spoken. They seemed upset enough that I knew something about your summer, while all they had were Lupin's notes. I figured it was your place anyway to tell them about Rozan."

"I don't want to," Harry mumbled, looking away from her as he paid for the three books that they had selected.

"Why not?" she asked in surprise.

He shrugged. "I just don't. I don't mind you knowing, but I don't want everyone to know that I was getting training with my mind with a wolf, and not another wizard." As the two left the bookstore, Harry turned back to the still stuck three Slytherin students. "Still sticking around, I see? Well, have fun!" He then walked to the Leaky Cauldron with Hermione, laughing about the stunt, even though neither had any idea what had happened to them. All Harry knew was that his Shielding Charm hadn't reflected a single curse, jinx, or charm."

Harry noticed several things when he stepped into the Leaky Cauldron a few minutes later. The first was that the bar was unusually empty for mid afternoon. The second was that everyone in the bar, he knew, and had spoken to recently, aside from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. The third thing he knew was that Mrs. Weasley was wrapping him in her arms with a great welcoming hug.

"Oh, Harry, thank goodness you are alright. I mean, Dumbledore assured us that you were, but my first thought was that you were the first of the younger victims of this war, and I was so worried of losing my half adopted son!" To say she was bursting to see him again was a definite understatement.

"Molly, let him breath," Arthur Weasley suggested to his wife as she let go on him. he then held a hand out to the young wizard. "Good to see you again, Harry. I hate to rush things, but Tom can only keep this place empty for us for so long. We've got cars waiting out front for us... it might be a bit of a tight squeeze with all of us, but we'll manage."

When the five children piled into the back and both Arthur and Molly sat up front, Harry found himself with more room in the car than he had had when he was driven home with his cousin and Aunt and Uncle at the end of the school term last year. He could reach out and still not bump into anyone. They were obviously in Ministry cars again. The stack of books that he had bought were sitting securely in front of him, as was a bundle of potion ingredients that Hermione had apparently picked up for him earlier in case he needed them.

As they drove down the street, Harry's mind started churning again. He knew where they were going. The streets of London seemed to go by much faster than usual, which made sense as Harry suddenly did not want to arrive. He was returning to the house that had belonged to Sirius Black, his late godfather... the house that was used for the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Everything would remind him of his godfather, and he knew right away that it would not be a pleasant time in that house for quite a while still. It was going to be a long month until school started again.  
-------------------


	4. Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

Chapter Four: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

Although everyone around him was talking animatedly on the ride back to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry, sitting next to a window, appeared to be looking out it, and wasn't saying very much at all. In truth, he had his eyes closed and was concentrating very hard on not thinking about anything. It was not a very simple task, given the fact that he knew where they were headed, and the fact that everyone else in the car was discussing the sapping of Malfoy.

As he sat unmoving and unspeaking in the car, a sudden, small realization hit him. He had seen an elven child covered in tree sap while he had been in the village of Vlaine, and Kailyn had told him that it was a common elven practical joke - easily cleaned up with the right magic or tools. _Magics_... he corrected himself as he thought about everything Fey had told him. The elves didn't look at magic as a singular force, and the more he thought about it, the more he found himself agreeing. As much as he hated to think he was learning outside of school - a trait more commonly found in, say, the person sitting next to him with brown, bushy, curly hair - it was something to keep his mind busy. _No one spell is the same, even if cast twice by the same person. A different amount of energy or feeling goes into each spell, making them all unique in their own way. Therefore..._

"Harry?"

He opened his eyes slowly, and saw in the slight reflection of the car window that Hermione was looking at him, apparently having withdrawn from the conversation when she noticed how silent he was keeping. "Yeah?"

"Everything alright, Harry?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "Just a little tired, that's all. It's been a busy few days." He felt better adding the second part to his statement, as that made it not entirely untrue.

"No kidding," she replied in a whisper. "It was crazy on this end, too."

"Later, Hermione..." he pleaded with her without taking his eyes of her reflection. She opened her mouth as though to argue with him, but then closed it again without saying anything. "Thanks."

"You know, Harry, there's talk this year of letting a few younger members into the Order," Ron said when he noticed that Harry appeared not to be sleeping after all. "Reckon they'll let us in?"

"Ronald Weasley!" Molly said from the front of the car harshly. "The Order is not a place for children!"

"But Mum, we're sixteen now!"

"Just you, actually, Ron," Harry pointed out. "My birthday's a few days away still, and Hermione's isn't for more than a month." _I expect they'll want me to join anyway... given what I have to end up doing._

"Right then," Arthur said suddenly after a long silence filled the car. "I'll drop you all off at the corner, and then find a place to park and join you later. You can see yourselves in, after all." The car rolled to a sudden stop and the children all climbed out of the car, followed swiftly by Molly Weasley.

"Taking the scenic route, Weasley?"

The group turned collectively to find an older wizard standing on the corner... an older wizard with a wooden leg and wearing a hat slightly crooked, so as to cover his mystical eye - the very eye that gave him his nickname of Mad Eye.

"We were careful, Moody," Molly replied. "But good of you to meet us at the corner anyway. We met up with Harry in Diagon Alley," she added, motioning to Harry.

"Yes," he said dryly. "I can see that."

"Hello Professor," Harry offered.

"Like I said last year, Potter, I never got around to teaching you, so Moody's fine. Or if you insist, then I'd also answer to Mad Eye or Alastor." He then frowned at the group. "Where are you keeping your wands? Not in your back pockets again, I trust?"

"And we still have both buttocks, Mad Eye," Ron said enthusiastically. "So no harm done yet."

"We should get moving," Moody said gruffly and turned. As Harry followed the direction they were facing, the houses with the numbers Eleven and Thirteen pushed out of the way and made room for a doorway with the number Twelve listed above it. The house with the concealing charm... his godfather's old house.

As the group pushed into the door, Harry froze and looked around. Things looked much brighter than they had before... not so much dust or cobwebs, and very few of the angry paintings were still hanging on the walls. The one directly across from the entrance still had its shades drawn, and he decided not to say anything lest he wake the last person he really felt like being cursed by.

Molly made her way into the kitchen as soon as she had done a quick head count, muttering something about preparing a feast. As Ron, Ginny, and Luna had already started towards the living room, Harry felt no reason to pick a different direction, and started after them. Hermione caught him as he started walking in another hug.

"We were really worried, you know," she whispered as she released him.

"So I gathered," he managed, though he was getting a little embarrassed by all the hugs he was getting. "Come on," he added, and followed them.

He stopped as he was about to cross into the living room as a tall, greasy haired wizard paused in the doorway as he was leaving. Snape looked down his long crooked nose at Harry, a small sneer on his lip. "Potter."

"Snape."

"That's Professor Snape to you, Potter," Snape said coldly. "And if classes had already started this year, then I would be taking house points away right now."

"Good thing classes haven't started yet, then," Harry replied in an equally cold voice. As the potions master took a step away, Harry called after him. "See you in class, then."

"I expect you to work harder than you have ever worked for me before, Potter. I tried arguing with Dumbledore, as you should not have been able to receive that O, but as he pointed out so graciously, it was marked by impartial teachers, so I could not complain."

"I'll work as hard as you do, sir."

Snape didn't reply, but practically glided out of the room as Harry turned back to the others. Before he could say anything, though, a soft growling sound caught his ears. He could see that the three had already sat down, but the source of the sound was not in the living room.

As the growling grew louder, he turned quickly and brushed passed Hermione to the stairs and started up them three at a time. She was right behind him, and he knew that the others were starting to follow as well. He threw open the door to the study that he knew Sirius had used, and found the source of the growling.

_I thought you might come if you heard me._

"What are you doing here, Rozan?" Harry asked. "And where have you been? I didn't see you at all in Vlaine."

_That would be because I was not in Vlaine,_ the wolf replied. _I was travelling a bit. I thought I would come by to make sure you arrived safely, however. Do not forget our lessons._

"This is Rozan, Harry?" Hermione whispered from behind him. He nodded, and she let out a deep breath that she had apparently been holding. "He's beautiful," she added as she stepped towards the time wolf. "I had no idea that they looked so magnificent."

_Thank you, Hermione Granger,_ a voice sounded in her mind, which apparently caught her off guard, because she started at it. _Do not be alarmed. Harry told me something about you, that is why I did not feel it wrong to speak with you in this fashion._

"Thanks," she managed through her surprise.

_If you truly wish to thank me, please take care of Harry._

"What?" she asked, confused by the request.  
_If his mind is clouded, or some his emotions run too high, then he is still open to mind magics. If his mind is kept calmer, then he is perfectly protected. Please help keep him calm._

She nodded briefly before looking to Harry, but he seemed to be having his own conversation with Rozan, as he didn't seem to even notice what she had said at all, or make any indication that he had heard what had been said to her. She turned a bit more as she heard the others come up from behind them, and looked back quickly to Rozan.

He was gone.

"Have you lost it, mate?" Ron asked Harry as he stepped into the room. "What made you take off like that?" Clearly Rozan had disappeared before the other three had a chance to see him.

Harry shook his head at once, though he didn't say anything right away as he looked around the room. It even smelled like his godfather... a mix of wet dog and proud wizard. It was not an unpleasant smell, but it did drag up his memories all over again.

"I think Harry figured this room would be better to talk in, that's all," Hermione said for him when it was obvious that he wasn't about to reply.

"Fewer people who could just listen in," Harry said with a nod when he figured out what Hermione was trying to do for him. He took an unsteady seat on the floor, and Hermione sat down at once next to him. Ron sat across from him, while Ginny and Luna filled the spaces out to finish the small circle. "And I thought you might want to hear the full details, like I already gave to Fred and George."

"What?" Ron and Ginny asked together.

"You're talking bluger."

Harry shook his head. "Actually, I ran into them just before I met up with you guys. Their store seems to be doing really well."

"Yeah, and it drives Mum up the wall," Ron said with a grin.

"She doesn't want to admit that something she was always telling them was a waste of time can make a good job for them, but they are doing exceptionally well," Ginny explained at his blank look.

"Right." Harry took a deep breath and looked to each of his friends in turn. Luna wasn't actually looking at him, but it was obvious that she was listening anyway. "Well, I happened to be in the hallway when the first of the Death Eaters arrived," he explained. "I knew I didn't have time to write an owl, but I could call Hermione to ask her to send help. I figured she'd be the best bet I had, cause she would be able to think of something. Anyway, I stunned a couple of them as they came up the stairs, but I was really badly outnumbered. Seems that Voldemort really wanted them to get me."

At the dark wizard's name, a collective shudder went through his friends, though Hermione didn't react as strongly as the others. "Well, V-Voldemort would be angry with you, Harry," Hermione pointed out to him. She was the only other one of the group who would actually say his name, though it obviously still upset her to do so.

"I reckon so," Harry said with a forced grin. "Anyway, I locked myself in my room to buy myself some time, but they used the Reduction Curse to destroy the door. I thought I was a goner."

"How many were there in the end?" Ron asked.

"I think around ten or twelve," Harry replied. "Well, just as they were about to send a Killing Curse at me, a tall guy in a green cloak appeared and blasted them with some sort of lightning spell. He then told me to pack for school as though nothing had happened. Once I was packed, he took me and we reappeared in the elven city of Vlaine," he explained. "Mind you, I didn't know that right away, as I passed out on the trip. Or so they told me, anyway."

Before anyone else could respond to what he had said, Ron leaned over and punched him hard in the arm. Harry leapt to his feet at once to get away from another attack, and Ron was on his feet as well, but grinning. The others stood up just as Ron pulled Harry into a rough embrace. "Sorry, mate, but I told everyone that I'd give you a black eye for makin us worry," he said as he released him. "But seeing as it wasn't your fault that you left, I figured that was enough."

"Thanks for caring," Harry said sarcastically as he rubbed his arm. Hermione gave him a hug next, a little more endearing than the one Ron had given him - thankfully - and then Ginny did likewise. Luna stood before him next, and bowed a bit to him.

"I do hope the elves treated you well, Harry," she said in her otherworldly voice. "I haven't heard much about them at all..."

"Thanks everyone, but I'm fine. Now, anyway."

"So tell us about the elves, Harry," Hermione prompted, sitting down again. "Was it a big city? Are they a lot like us, or completely different? How long do they live, anyway?"

"Oh, no you don't Hermione," Ron said instantly. "First I want to hear about the guy who saved Harry. Then if you want your little lesson, I'm outta here. I don't feel like learning about elves right now. We're not even in school for crying out loud!"

"Just because we aren't in school doesn't mean we can't learn, Ron. Honestly..."

"I expect you'll find out about him once the school year starts, Ron. He's our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Harry pointed out with a grin.

"Wicked!" Ron said excitedly. "An elven teacher? I've got to send Pig to Fred and George, and tell them what they're missing!" He stood up quickly and practically fell from the room he was trying to move so fast. Luna followed him after a moment, and then Ginny stood, too.

"I've got to write a quick letter, too," she said, not meeting either of their eyes as she left in almost as much of a hurry as Ron had a few seconds earlier.

"I wonder who she's writing to," Harry said, looking to Hermione.

"Probably Dean," she said with a shrug. "They are sort of going out now, remember?"

Harry nodded, remembering how Ron had flipped out over the revelation on the train ride home at the end of last year. The end of last year... it didn't seem to take much to remind Harry of his mistake, and even that simple thought brought all of the memories unbidden.

"Look, Harry, I don't need to know about the elves right now," Hermione said softly, as though afraid that they might be overheard. "But I wanted to talk to you about something alone, quickly. I meant to earlier, but I forgot after that whole Malfoy incident."

"What's on your mind, Hermione?" Harry asked in surprise. He had just stood up to leave, and she stood as well.

"I... I wanted to ask about what you said at the end of each of the phone calls," she said hurriedly. "Because you never let me ask about it over the phone before hanging up, and I was afraid that if I started the next call by asking, you'd just hang up. What are you so sorry about?"

Harry took a deep breath as he turned away from her. His eyes settled on the desk in the corner, and he made his way over to it slowly and sank into the chair there as Hermione stood before him, not giving him much space at all. She expected an answer.

"Dolohov's curse," he whispered, not meeting her eye. "For yelling at you about how wrong you were about Sirius. For not listening to you when I should have." 'For not telling you everything.' "For dragging you along on that stupid trip to the Ministry. For - "

"Oh Harry," she said, her voice catching in her throat as she interrupted him. His shoulders sagged, and she knelt before him as she heard a soft sob escape his lips.

"I hurt so many people last year," he whispered to her. "Not only Sirius... but Neville, Luna, Ron, you! All because I refused to listen to you. If only I had..."

"It wasn't your fault, Harry," she said urgently. "Please... we wanted to come with you, remember? We wouldn't have let you leave without us! We came because we wanted to. We wanted to help you however we could. I came even though I knew it was a trap, right? That should say something!"

"Yeah, how stupid I was," Harry replied bitterly. "Not only did I put you all in danger, but Sirius died because of me!"

"But Harry, that wasn't your fault either!" Hermione said, desperate to make him understand. She had wanted Ginny to absolve her of the guilt she had been feeling when she thought Harry had died, so she knew what he needed. "Bellatrix Lestrange killed him, remember?"

"He wouldn't have been there at all if not for me, though, 'Mione," he said harshly. After a long pause, he looked up to her. "You wouldn't understand."

If he was startled by the fact that she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, he didn't show it at all. The act had startled herself, but she didn't say anything until she was standing again, either. "I understand you're hurting, Harry. But this isn't helping you." She stopped at the doorway. "And I want to help you. More than anything else."

Harry stayed in the study for a while longer with his eyes closed as his senses were bombarded by emotions from everything in the room. Everything in the house, really. He remembered how depressed Sirius had been at being forced to stay in the dreary place, and suddenly he felt himself understanding his godfather more than ever before. It was unfortunate that it would do him no good now.

The sound that caught his attention and made him stand up was not a loud one, or a menacing one. It was definitely out of place, though, and he stuck his head out of the study to look up and down the hall. He saw Hermione sitting in a chair at the end of the hall, a book in her lap, and she looked up as he came out.

She closed her book right away and stood as though to say something, but Harry held a finger to his lips to keep her silent. She nodded, understanding, but she looked confused. He was walking very carefully and slowly now towards the top of the stairs, as though any sudden movement would alert the wrong people that he had heard whatever it had been that he had heard.

From the head of the stairs, the two had a clear view into the hallway downstairs, as well as the doorway leading to the kitchen and the main entrance. Standing in the entrance was a tall man dressed in a dark green cloak with his hood up. He was talking to Dumbledore in nearly silent tones, as the two were straining to hear but didn't pick up a single word.

"That's him, Hermione," Harry whispered as the tall elf turned to leave again. "That's the guy who saved me, that's out new teacher. That's the Wanderer."

As he said the elf's title, the being stopped walking suddenly and turned as though considering something. He then looked straight down the hall and up the stairs to both Harry and Hermione, almost as though he had known that he would find them there all along. Harry could see two brown eyes through the shadow of the hood, but nothing else was discernible about him this time, either.

The elf nodded once slowly to them, and then turned and vanished in a heartbeat. There was no loud crack that usually accompanied apparation - he was simply gone.

"Oh, codswallop," Hermione whispered to Harry, making him look to her in surprise. "I wanted to ask him why we didn't have a book for this year..."

"Then might I suggest asking?" a voice said from behind them, causing both teens to jump in surprise and spin around. Harry had his wand out in an instant, and Hermione's was coming forward as they turned.

Sitting in the chair that Hermione had occupied just moments earlier was the elf in the dark green cloak. He was sitting calmly, as though he had been there all along, and had his fingers pressed together. It was then that Harry noticed a couple of other things about him. He was wearing brown leather gloves which covered his hands, but he had a bracelet on his wrist and there was a glint of gold revealed to be hanging from his neck . He assumed that the elf must have had a ring as well, as Fey had been wearing the three pieces of jewelry as well.

"How did you get there?" Hermione asked. In her shock, she had apparently forgotten that she was talking to their new professor, and she flushed almost as soon as the words left her mouth. "Er... I mean..."

The elf waved her apology aside before she even said it as he stood up. The cloak was again hiding almost everything about him. "I believe you would be the witch called Hermione Granger, am I correct?" She managed a slight nod, and he nodded in return. "And I think you were asking about books, right?" Again, she nodded rather than trust her own voice. "Well, there is never any harm in asking a question Miss. Granger, so do not hesitate in my classes, either. As to your textbooks, I thought it would be better to let the class decide on one for you to use, rather than me to demand it."

"You're letting us pick our own textbooks?" Hermione asked breathlessly.

Harry chuckled beside her. "I think you're her new favourite professor, er... Professor."

The elf shook his head. "I am not your teacher yet, Mister Potter, so please do not worry. If you would feel more comfortable using a name, then Talisien will be fine." He seemed to ignore Hermione's gasp of surprise, as he simply continued. "Once school starts again, Professor Talisien, or more simply Professor, will work fine, I believe."

With a simple nod to both of them again, he vanished once more, just as he had earlier. "What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked her the surprise ad worn off. "You gasped at his name," he pointed out at her confused look.

"I've... I've got to check something again, Harry," she said quickly and quietly. "Let the others know where I am, will you?" she asked. "Oh, I hope Tonks is around. She'll take me," she muttered as she practically flew down the stairs into the kitchen.

"Well, I'm glad you made it clear what you were talking about, 'Mione," he whispered to the stillness around him. As he stood at the top of the stairs, a sudden weariness overtook him, and he turned to find a room to sleep in. Pushing open the door to the room that he had shared with Ron during the previous summer, he collapsed on one of the beds and was asleep before the portrait of Phineas Nigellus could even say one word to him.  
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When Harry next opened his eyes, it was to almost complete darkness all around him. Fumbling in the dark, his hand clasped around his wand and he muttered, "Lumos." The tip of his wand lit up immediately, and he sat up in bed. Someone had obviously found him lying across the bed, as he was now tucked in and his glasses were on the nightstand. He put them on quickly enough and got out of bed slowly.

The scratching of a quill a few rooms down the hall caught his attention as he stepped out of his room. Deciding that no one would complain if he just had a quick look in, he found Lupin sitting at Sirius's old desk in the study writing something on the parchment in front of him.

Harry knocked gently on the open door, and Lupin looked up at once, and his visage softened a little at seeing who was there. "Harry!" he said, a smile on his face. "Good to see you again. Gave us quite the scare, you know, and I was stuck here and couldn't even help look for you." The look on his face told Harry that it must have been a full moon that night.

"Sorry," Harry said, a grin on his own face. "Glad you're feeling better now."

"So am I, Harry. So am I." He then looked back to the parchment on his desk. "I was just writing a reply to a letter I received a few days back. From Gringotts, if you want to see it," he offered, holding out an official looking letter to Harry to look at. He took it, but didn't read it right away. "Sirius asked them to deliver it to me, in case anything ever happened to him."

Harry frowned and looked down at the letter, but his eyes wouldn't focus on the words. "What did he want to tell you?"

Lupin smiled and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "He said that, in the event of his own death, he wanted me to take over as your godfather," Lupin said with a smile. "Oh, and he gave you this house, too. I daresay you'll need it... you old one looks a little worse for wear."

"So I heard," Harry said, shaking his head as the words didn't really sink in. As soon as they did, though, he snapped to attention. "You?" Harry asked in surprise. "You're my new godfather?"

Lupin looked a bit affronted, and sighed. "Well, I guess if you would rather someone else, we could..."

"No!" Harry said quickly. "No, I think you'll be great, Lupin!" he said with gusto. "No, I meant about the house. He gave me the house?"

"It has to belong to someone, Harry," Lupin said, a look of relief - and maybe a touch of pride - washing over his face in place of the anguish of rejection. "And I couldn't think of anyone more deserving."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, a house full of trouble and mess. Guess that suits me perfectly." He shook his head before Lupin could reply. "I know, I know, everyone's working hard to clean the place up. I guess I'll have to pull some weight tomorrow, too."

Lupin sighed as he looked back to the desk. "I think I'll finish this in the morning," he said as he stood up slowly and then walked to the door. "Don't stay up too late, Harry. You will need your sleep tonight."

"Sure thing, Lupin."

"Remus would be fine, Harry."

"Night... Remus."

"Good night, Harry."

As soon as Harry was sure the werewolf was out of hearing range, he sighed and sat down hard on the ground. He wasn't really aware of the tears in his eyes, nor the ones that were rolling down his cheeks. He wasn't aware of much of anything at all until a lithe hand touched his shoulder, and he fell backwards in surprise as he jerked out of the grip.

When he opened his eyes, he found Luna looking straight down at him, her long blonde hair hanging in his face, tickling his nose. "Are you alright, Harry?" she asked.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Does the pain ever go away?" he whispered to her.

Luna shrugged. "Not really," she replied. "But it gets better. Once the pain is mostly gone, it latches onto your heart. Then, every once and awhile, your heart pushes the memories forward, and you feel like crying all over again."

"But..."

"I still miss my mother, Harry," Luna said softly to him. "But I don't cry about her very often anymore. If anything, I cry for the people who never had the chance to meet her."

Neither said anything for a few minutes, until Harry sat forward again so they were just sitting across from each other. "I'm a prat, Luna," Harry said suddenly, smacking himself in the forehead. "I asked you about OWL's in the bookstore, and you didn't even take them last year. I'm - "

"I did take them, Harry," Luna interrupted him. "I slipped into the exams and wrote as many as I could. I figured that way, I would be able to join at least one of you three in a few classes," she explained.

"Hang on..." Harry said slowly. "You snuck into the OWL's, and still ended up with nine of them?"

"I've been told that I am a true Ravenclaw," Luna replied with a shrug. She then pulled out a sharp object from her pocket. "I started carrying this around," she explained. "So when people say that in the future, I can make sure they are not far from the truth. I _have_ a ravenclaw, so that's close enough."

"But you're ruddy smart, Luna, if you could pull that off."

She nodded but didn't say anything for a moment. "Are you feeling better now, thanks to our earlier talk?" she asked. "I am getting rather tired, and should get back to bed. I just heard voices... our room is right next to this one, after all."

"Thanks, Luna," Harry whispered as she started to get up. To his surprise, she smiled to him and then leaned a little closer and gave him a gentle hug. Unlike the ones he occasionally received from Hermione, this one seemed more like it came from a little sister than anything. The ones from Hermione felt distinctly different from that, he realized, as he released her slowly. He liked them better.

He looked up at the sound at the door in time to see Hermione turning away quickly and disappearing down the hall. Luna stood after a moment of considering him, and then left the study as well. Harry, still feeling the effects of the long day, decided that a sleep in the study wouldn't really hurt anything. Sleep just had to take him first.  
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Hermione shut the door to the room she shared with the youngest Weasley child and Luna quickly and quietly, not wanting anyone to see the tears in her eyes. They had come very suddenly, and she was immensely pleased that there was no sign of Ginny. She knew where Luna was.

She sat down a little roughly at the desk and set her head down on it as the tears came unbidden from her eyes. Through the blur, something that was sitting on the desk caught her attention. A green envelop was sitting there with an odd symbol embossed on the front, and again used as the seal.

"That looks an like the Ancient Rune for fertility..." she whispered to herself as she picked up the letter curiously. Her name was scrawled across one side of it as well in handwriting that simply flowed across the page. She doubted she could make it look as fancy if she tried for hours.

"Don't worry."

She turned the parchment that was the letter over, expecting to see more, but that was the entire note. "Don't worry?" she muttered quietly. "About what? Who sent this?" As expected, no one answered her question. The wheels in her head were spinning quickly, though.

The research she had done in the library told her something about an elf named Talisien from over a thousand years ago. She knew she had recognized the name from somewhere - probably one of Professor Binns's lessons. The Wanderer must have been named after him, for the elven hero Talisien had faded out of the history books shortly after his victory against a very powerful daemon.

However, the seal was the same as the symbol that the hero had used.

"What is Talisien trying to tell me?" she whispered. Thinking of the elf only made her think of Harry again, and she closed her eyes tightly to ward off the flood of emotions that had bombarded her senses.

She had seen Luna hugging Harry... or maybe it had been the other way around. She had always thought that Luna fancied Ron. In fact, thinking back to the past few days when she had been around them, it was obvious to almost everyone - except Ron, of course - that Luna did fancy him.

So why was she hugging Harry? "He spoke to her at the end of last year..." she breathed, her words not loud enough to make any sound. "He mentioned it... she said something that helped push the pain away." She paused for a moment, thinking carefully. "So maybe she heard him yelling at me, about how I couldn't understand, and took it upon herself to try and help. Yes. That would make sense. Luna wouldn't want anyone to suffer..."

'So why was I so upset at seeing the two of them hugging?' she thought. Biting her lower lip, she held her head in her hands. "They keep telling me that I'm the smartest witch to grace Hogwarts in decades... but sometimes I can be so dense!" As she opened her eyes again, a small smile was playing at her lips. "I know why I was jealous... I was jealous!"

She stood quickly from her chair and actually started to pace back and forth as she mulled things over. "I didn't want to see him hugging anyone else. Even when he was with Cho, I didn't think she was good enough for him. Victor was a great guy, but he was missing something, too." She then stopped as the realization sunk into her brain. "Right in front of me for almost two years, and I never figured it out..." She lowered herself onto the corner of her bed and took a deep breath. "I'm falling for one of my best friends."

It was inevitable. She kept telling herself that as she sat there, unmoving, just thinking very hard, and quickly. She was always hanging out with either Ron or Harry. She was a girl... and they were both boys. The way she was always fighting with Ron made the logic that much clearer. Subconsciously, she wanted to be closer to Harry. Not, she told herself fiercely with a touch of disgust in her thoughts, the Boy-Who-Lived, but plain old Harry. The boy she was falling for.

It would also change everything. Best friends can't become boyfriend and girlfriend without things changing. Maybe changing too much, even. And Ron would feel so left out. Hermione sighed. The fact that Harry seemed to look at her the same way he looked at Ron or Ginny didn't help matters. He saw her as a sister.

"It would be best not to say anything at all," she said with more confidence than she felt suddenly. "If I say something, then everything will change. If I keep quiet, then we'll all get along fine still. Nothing will have to change. We'll still be best friends." She then sighed. "I just can't try to hex whoever he falls for next into next week... as much as I might find myself wanting to. There will never be anyone else for me... I'm sure. We've been through far too much together..."

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and she stood up quickly, wiping her eyes to hide the evidence that she had been crying. She knew it wasn't Ginny or Luna - both of them would have simply come into the room. She just took a deep breath and found herself wishing - for once - that it was not Harry Potter coming to say hi.

She cursed to herself as she opened the door. "Hi," Harry said almost awkwardly.

"Hi yourself," she returned, a faint smile showing through her demeanour despite herself.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry," he said suddenly. "I didn't mean to yell at you earlier. I really didn't. I shouldn't have, either. As you so often reminded me last year, you're on my side, and I shouldn't try to bite your head off at every little thing anyone does."

She froze as he took a step forward and hugged her tightly, pinning her arms to her side so she couldn't return the hug, or escape. "I understand, Harry," she whispered. "I haven't seen death, and Luna has. Did she help any?"

Harry separated himself from her and held her at arms' length, not letting go of her completely just yet. "Yeah," he said, looking a little confused. "But how did you know..."

"I saw you," Hermione admitted, her smile suddenly fading just a bit, though it was obvious that he didn't seem to notice. "I'm glad she could do something. I just wish I could have." He nodded simply, and as he turned to leave, she stopped him with her own arms around him. "Good night," she added when he looked surprise. "I hope you have another dreamless night."

When she started to let go, she suddenly felt Harry's arms around her again, holding her with an intensity that she had barely even dreamed of. It seemed that he was afraid that if he were to let go that she would simply disappear. "You do so much already, 'Mione," he whispered into her ear, his breath playing gently on it, making her shiver. "I would be lost without you..."

Then, as quickly as it had started, it was over again, and Harry released her and stepped out of the door. With a slight smile back to her, he turned and was gone as night started to settle over the house. A moment later, both Ginny and Luna appeared at the door and came in, and the three started talking about what had happened during the day just before heading to bed. Hermione was only half paying attention, however, as the rest of her mind was focused on a certain black haired boy with emerald green eyes.  
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Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

The Shadows


	5. The Birthday Party

Chapter Five: Birthday Party

Harry fumbled in the dark for a moment before his senses came back to him. "Lumos," he whispered. The wand on his nightstand was suddenly glowing brightly, and he could see his glasses easily. Putting them on, he picked up his wand and whispered, "Nox."

As the light faded, he stretched. It was far earlier than he had wanted to be up, but a sound from downstairs had woken him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone moving about down there, preparing something. He was sure he had been imagining things, but knew that he wouldn't get any sleep if he didn't at least look into it.

Creeping down the stairs as quietly as he could, he paused on the bottom step as he heard muffled voices. "Careful with that, Ron."

"I being as careful as I can be, Ginny. I'm not a bloody stepladder, you know?"

"Quiet, Ron, or you'll wake Harry!"

"You're making more noise than me, Mum!"

"Everyone, shh!"

There was a distinct pause in the movement, and then things started going again. "Remember what Harry said last year? He's never had a real birthday party! We can't be messing this up now."

"Don't worry so much, Hermione. Even if we make a few mistakes, he'll never notice, right? Like you said, it's his first real one. He wouldn't spot any mistakes."

"I still think we should be quiet. He told me that he's sleeping lighter these days, even though he's not having any more nightmares."

"We may be too late already, Miss Granger." Harry definitely recognized the scruff voice of the ex-Auror with the magical eye. "He's no longer in his bed."

There was a sudden scrambling, and before Harry could move a muscle to bolt away, the door to the kitchen burst open, flooding the bottom of the steps with light. Harry squinted for the briefest of moments before he realized that it was Hermione standing in the doorway.

"Er... hi..." was all he could manage. "Fancy you being up so early..."

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry!" she said hurriedly, pulling him to his feet as he held out a hand to her. "We wanted to surprise you and everything, and I kept telling them that they were being too loud, but everyone was having such a blast trying to decorate and..."

Harry held a finger to her lips quickly to silence her, and she froze instantly. "Can I see it?" he whispered, trembling a little. It was like she had said just a few minutes earlier... it really was the first time he would be able to celebrate his birthday. "Or should I go back upstairs and wait?"

"That wouldn't do at all, Harry, honestly..." she said, shaking her head as he withdrew his finger. She pulled him to the doorway and smiled to him. "Happy sixteenth birthday, Harry Potter."

The first thing that came to Harry's mind was the Halloween decorations in the Great Hall at Hogwarts during his first year - they had simply been so stunning and magnificent. But even the better done Christmas decorations suddenly seemed like gaudy lightbulbs as he looked about the kitchen slowly. They had obviously been working very hard to prepare everything.

The table itself was covered with a red and gold tablecloth, and the gold trim seemed to sparkle with life. On the table itself was a large pile of neatly wrapped - well, mostly neatly wrapped, he could easily guess which one was from Ron - and behind them was a massive cake. From the top of the cake was a chocolate fountain which was shooting into the air and pouring down the edges, only to be drawn back up the sides by magic.

Apart from the table there were streamers everywhere in reds, golds, and even a few greens - not the gaudy Slytherin green, but the richness of emeralds, like his eyes. There were more candles lit than he could possibly ever count, and like piles of candy were spread throughout the massive room.

The decorations themselves weren't what really caught his eye, though, and neither were the presents. It was the people. Ron and Ginny were standing at the far end of the kitchen, half wrapped in streamers which - he guessed - they had been trying to hang when he interrupted them. Luna was kneeling next to the fireplace, which he just noticed had the words Happy Birthday glowing through the flames. Fred and George were both there, too, with large, obnoxious party hats on which only the two of them could ever have gotten away with. Tonks was leaning against the sink with her hand wrapped in cloth, and he could spy the broken dish behind her that she must have dropped a few minutes before he had come in. Lupin was there, too, with Moody, whom he had definitely heard earlier. Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there, beaming at him as though he was one of their children. Dumbledore was sitting at the table, poking at the cake with his wand, which seemed to change the simply flowing fountain of fudge into jets of chocolate which danced around above the cake before splashing back down over it again.

Harry was speechless. Of all the things he had been expecting when he had come downstairs half asleep, this wasn't even a thought. He turned to Hermione, who still had a hold of his hand as she had dragged him in, and managed a broad smile to her, but words had failed him. Utterly failed him.

The room was becoming a little blurry as he looked around again, and he knew that tears were forming in his eyes. There was only one thing he could think of doing suddenly to hide this fact, and so he drew Hermione to him in a big hug and buried his head in her bushy brown hair.

"Thank you..." he whispered, but everyone heard him. "Thank you, everyone..." He had to stop as a sob was caught in his throat, and Hermione gave him a quick squeeze before pulling apart from him. "This is more than... more..."

"Hey Harry," Ron called, and he wiped his eyes and looked down to his other best friend. "Happy birthday, mate. This one's gonna make up for all the ones that you missed growing up. A few people couldn't be here... but its all for you!"

He really didn't know how he managed it, but suddenly he found himself sitting at the table. That really was a good thing, though, as he didn't think his legs would support him much longer. It was really a foreign concept to him, and he knew it. No one had ever done so much for him for so little reason.

No one except Sirius.

As that thought came unbidden from his mind, he swallowed deeply and reached into his robes that he had pulled on. There he found, as he knew he would, the mirror that Fey had had repaired for him. The mirror that Sirius had given to him. Without a word, he placed it face up on the table, and ran a finger along the edge of it gently.

"Sirius is here, too," Dumbledore said softly. "Even if we can't see him."

Harry smiled, though this one was a little sadder than the others he had done recently, but then he nodded. "I know." He then looked around at the group again. "So... what now?"

Dumbledore looked to him over the rims of his half moon spectacles. "Now, Harry, it is your birthday. Yours. And we all want you to enjoy it. However, I am going to take the joy out of someone in this room, as I am giving you a gift first, before anyone else can do so." Harry looked to the pile of gifts in the centre of the table, but the Headmaster shook his head. "No, Harry, it is not a gift that you can find there. It is a two part gift, both promises from me."

"Promises?"

"Yes Harry, promises. Words of truth from an old man may not mean much... but it is what I shall offer you today." He then sighed and sat back. "First, I will offer you - at a later date, of course, as now is not the time for such things - the chance to ask me about anything in the world... and I will not hide the truth from you."

"Albus!" Molly said at once, as though horrified by the idea.

"Yes, Molly," Dumbledore replied a little wearily. "The truth. He is plenty old enough to hear it, and after my grave mistake last year... I would not wish to hide it from him ever again." He then looked back to Harry. "Also, I am offering you a chance to continue something that you started last year, though I'm afraid it would still be unofficial and against the rules. But I daresay that that won't stop you."

"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked. He could hardly believe his ears so far... a promise from the Headmaster not to hide the truth anymore. It was all he had asked for ever since last June... and suddenly he had it. He couldn't imagine anything else that would make the day any better, and it had only just begun.

"I believe the little matter of my army, and it's training..." he said with a sparkle in his eye and a twitch of a smile on his lip.

"You'll let us run the DA again?" Harry asked.

"I don't think I could stop you if I wanted to. Just know that I approve... as does your new teacher."

Harry nodded slowly. He hadn't really thought about that right away, and was glad that the Headmaster had. He didn't want to upset the Wanderer at all, as he knew that he had a lot to learn from the elf.

"Right," Fred said after a long silence.

"Sweets anyone?" George followed, holding out a bag of treats. As everyone cast a leery eye towards them, he shrugged. "They aren't ours, they're from Honeydukes."

It wasn't long before Harry found himself sitting at the table with a plate of breakfast in from of him, with Ron on his right hand side and Hermione on his left. As Mrs. Weasley brought him a cup of orange juice, he held it up in front of him.

"I can't see life getting any better than this..." he said with a grin.

"Yeah right, mate," Ron said, nudging him in the arm. "You'll be all day opening all of those, mark my words. I've seen smaller piles of dragon dung."

Harry grinned back. "Then, after breakfast, I'll start with yours, so you then have to sit through all the rest..."

To his surprise, Ron just grinned back. "It's like Hermione said, Harry. Today is your day, and it's gotta make up for a lot of lost birthdays."

Once breakfast was cleared and Mrs. Weasley had set the dishes to wash themselves, everyone gathered around the table for Harry to open his presents. As everyone sat down, Dumbledore withdrew his wand again and waved it almost lazily above him. Instantly, the wooden chairs in the room billowed out a bit to become padded cushions, and they all sort of dropped to the floor into them as the table vanished as well.

"I think that will make everyone much more comfortable," he explained at the glances. He then pulled on the chain by his front pocket, and looked at his pocketwatch. "Unfortunately, Harry, as much as I wish I could stay, there are a few things that I must attend to. Have a good one."

Before anyone could object, the Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry suddenly popped out of the space he was sitting in.

Nobody said anything until Ron shoved the badly wrapped package into Harry's hands, confirming his earlier guess. "Two things in there, mate. I'll explain the letter once you've opened the main part."

Harry looked down at the mess, a little confused, but then ripped it open anyway, and a wooden box fell into his lap, along with the letter that Ron had mentioned. He opened the box slowly, as though afraid something might pop out at him suddenly.

"He didn't get it from our store, Harry," Fred said with a grin.

Harry let out an audible sigh of relief, causing a ripple of laughter to spread throughout the room, and then he opened the box deftly. Inside were several small bottles of white and silver liquid, a small brush, and a large silver towel. Harry recognized the supplies instantly as refills for his broom polishing kit that Hermione had given him a few years back.

"For your broom," Ron explained.

"I gathered that, Ron," Harry said dryly. "Cause I don't think I could use this on a toilet seat." He then glanced over to Fred and George. "That is... unless there happens to be one in this pile of stuff..."

"There had better not be!" Molly said deftly, glaring at the twins as they broke out into fits of laughter.

"The letter's from McGonagall," Ron added once the laughter had died down. "I had to ask her to owl it to me to get it here in time, but I knew you had to have it now, before you started to worry."

Harry opened the letter quickly, a little confused by the cryptic remarks from his best friend.

"Dear Mister Potter,  
It gives me great pleasure to reinstate you as the Gryffindor Quidditch Team's Seeker. Please see to it that the trophy remains in my office for another year.

Professor M. McGonagall.

ps. Happy birthday, Harry."

Harry looked up to Ron in surprise, and he was a little embarrassed to find tears in his eyes again. He looked over to Ginny quickly, but she was just smiling. She had known what was in the letter, and had told him last year that she would be a Chaser this year anyway.

"Thanks, Ron," Harry managed.

"Hey... what are friends for?"

"Right," Ginny said, as she picked up her package and tossed it to Harry once he had set both the letter and the box of refills to the side. He caught it deftly, and waited for her to continue. "Just so you know, we all knew that you were going to continue the DA this year. Just makes it a little easier now that Dumbledore's approved it."

Harry grinned and tore the paper off this package too. It was only after he removed the paper that he noticed that the drawings on it were moving. He set the package aside and looked at the wrapping paper carefully. There were miniature drawings that looked like a child might have put them there of Quidditch players zooming around on the paper. He could once stare at the tiny quaffle as it was passed back and forth, and he thought he might have caught sight on the miniature snitch, but it vanished again just as quickly, just like the real snitch.

"Looks like you could've just given him the wrapping paper, Gin!" Ron said with a laugh.

Harry set the paper aside quickly. "No, I just... well..."

"He's never seen magical wrapping paper like that before," Hermione offered, and he nodded meekly. "Which makes sense. It's really rare, and few people ever use it for anything short of something extraordinarily important."

"Which Harry's birthday is," Ginny pointed out.

"The Auror's Training Guide to Curses, Counter-Curses, and Jinxes," Harry read the cover of the book that Ginny had given him out loud to stop any arguments that might have been starting. "This'll make it real easy to..."

"Figure out what you're going to teach us this year?" Ginny prompted at once. "It took a bit to find a copy of this - you aren't supposed to be able to get one unless you are an Auror."

"So how did you get me a copy?" Harry asked, confused.

Ginny smiled and nodded to Tonks, who was suddenly very fascinated by her shoelaces, and was very carefully not meeting anyone's eye. "I'd like a word with you later, Nymphadora," Moody said quietly.

"Sod off, Mad Eye," Tonks said cheerfully as she looked up. "It's Harry's birthday!"

Moody looked at her carefully, his electric blue magical eye still spinning around, before he finally nodded. "I suppose so. He'll need to know some of that stuff anyway, I daresay." He then looked to Harry. "Remember, Potter..."

"Constant Vigilance," Harry said before the retired Auror had a chance to say it. THis earned him a reproving look from the older man before he saw a smile.

"And don't you forget it."

Harry then looked back to the book in his hands, and realized that there was another book underneath. "A lesson planner..." he said more to himself than to everyone around him. He flipped through the blank pages quickly and smiled. "This should make it a lot easier to remember what I taught before..."

"Good thinking, Ginny!" Hermione said. "Wish I had thought of that... but then I guess he'd have two, and he doesn't really need that many."

"Glad you like them, Harry," Ginny said with a smile. Harry carefully set the two books next to Ron's gift to him, and then looked around the room again.

From Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, he received a hand knit sweater with a large H on the front and a box of fudge. Alongside the box of fudge came an extended invitation to visit the Burrow whenever he wished, without regard for anything else - except school.

Luna was handing Harry his gift next, and he realized as he took it that he should have been able to figure out which one was from her as well. It was certainly not in a box, but it was very well wrapped. Once he had removed the paper, he found himself holding a necklace made out of butterbeer bottle caps and a long golden feather.

"My father tells me that the necklace can bring you all kinds of luck," Luna explained, though she wasn't really looking at him. "And I always thought they looked neat," she added, tugging on her own. "If you don't want to wear it, though, don't worry. Just don't throw it out."

Harry nodded and set the necklace in his growing pile of gifts, and then looked back to the feather. "And the feather?"

"That is a quill that my father bought while on vacation this summer. Can you guess what animal it came from?" she asked.

"Well, it wasn't a Snorkaks," Hermione said immediately. When Luna looked to her sharply, Hermione was grinning, and Luna smiled back, realizing that she was simply being teased a little. "But I can hardly believe what it is from, either, so there you go."

"Oh, you can believe it," Luna offered. "I even have it written down, so you can look up the facts," she said with a grin of her own.

When Harry simply looked back and forth between the two, Hermione sighed. "Harry, that's a feather from a gryffin!"

"A gryffin quill?" he asked, looking at it in amazement.

"I wouldn't use it for taking notes, but for writing letters or something special, it should help," Luna added into the silence. "After all, a gryffin's feather makes writing anything easier."

Harry could tell easily that Hermione was holding back saying something in response with great difficulty, so he cut in quickly. "Thanks, Luna. I won't use it in class, don't worry, but a letter to a few people might work well."

He carefully put it behind him as well, and then the package that Tonks had been holding onto landed in his lap. "Treakle tarts, Harry," she said before he could open it. "You can open them later. Don't lose the letter I stuck in there, though."

Harry looked to her a little confused by what she had said, but something about the way she was looking from him to the box and back again told him that he should listen to what she was saying - or not saying, as the case was. She had given him something that a few people in the room should not have a chance to see. "They're my favourite, thanks," he said genuinely as he set the box behind him as well. He caught Moody's eye suddenly, and was a little concerned that he might be able to see inside the box, but figured that Tonks must have thought of that already.

Moody gave him a sneakoscope, one that Harry promised to keep by his bedside table at all times. Lupin then gave him a new cauldron with a few potions kit - "You'll need it, Harry. Severus does not go easy on his NEWT students, and I suspect you might need all the help you can get to avoid his wrath." - as well as another book for the DA, this one entitled "Avoid getting cursed - the Ins and Outs and Ups and Downs of Dodging."

Fred and George handed him a large package with the words "The Sampler" on the side. They told him that it contained a couple of each of the Skiving Snackboxes, which they figured he might need at some stage. They just asked that he keep them away from anyone who might think it best if they were thrown out - they seemed to be looking meaningfully at Hermione when they said it.

Harry suddenly realized that he was holding his breath a bit, and released it slowly. There was only a couple of gifts left, and he couldn't pick out which one was from Hermione. He knew, though, that for whatever reason, he wanted to save it for last, so he had to be careful about which gift he took next.

"Try the green one, Potter," Moody muttered from behind him.

Harry turned slowly, an eyebrow raised to ask the question without asking the question, but Moody shrugged. Although he didn't say anything, his lips did move, and Harry could've sworn he saw the words "Hers is the gold one." He nodded vaguely and picked up the green one.

"There's that symbol again," he muttered as he looked at the top of the box.

"What symbol?" both Ron and Hermione asked at the same time, only to be echoed by a few others.

"Oh," Hermione added as she looked at it. "The Wanderer's symbol. That must be a gift from him!"

"Why would he give me anything?" Harry asked aloud as he started to unwrap the gift. It was only after he started that he realized that the object was not wrapped in paper, but in a giant oak leaf.

He found himself holding a small wooden box when the leaf was set aside, and there was a brief letter on the top which he read out loud.

"Harry,  
Inside this box you will find a small blue stone. This is a teleportation stone - what you might call an apparation stone. It is activated by the heat of skin contact, and will take whoever touches it out of harm's way. Do not use it recklessly, and do not forget it. Never has one been in the hands of a human before, but I have a feeling that you will need it."

At the end of the letter, rather than a name or even The Wanderer, the symbol appeared there again. Harry looked away from the letter to the box again, and then up to the others.

"Harry... that is a priceless gift!" Hermione breathed softly. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, his mind already spinning quickly. It could get him out of a tight spot, in case he came face to face with Voldemort again. It could also get any of his friends out of tight spots if they insisted on following him again. The Wanderer had given him a way to protect his friends.

After a moment, he set the letter on the pile of gifts, and slipped the box into a pocket of his robes. He then looked back to the pile, where there was only two gifts left. One was wrapped in gold, and the other one was wrapped in brown paper. On closer examination, he found that it was actually tree bark, and not paper.

"Hey..." he said softly as he picked up the brown package. "I think this one is from Kailyn..." He then looked around the room. "Anyone know who told them that it was my birthday?"

There was a long silence that followed his question, until Ron cleared his throat. "We've... never met either of them, mate, remember?"

Harry nodded. "Right." He then looked back to the package. He tore the bark off easily enough and looked into the box. On the inside was another box that was propped open. Inside that box was two rings, and there was a letter on the inside as well.

This one, he decided to read to himself. He didn't know what the rings were for, but he somehow didn't think it would be a good idea for everyone to hear.

"Harry,  
I know you weren't in the elven village for very long, but I couldn't think of much else to give you. These are vow rings - part of the three part vows that the elves make to their mates. I am not trying to make a vow with you, so don't worry. But I thought you might want to take part in one of our traditions with a girl of your own – I'm sure you have one, you're too nice not to. The other parts of the vow are bracelets and necklaces. The rings represent the love for the other, which is given only on the day of the ceremony. The bracelet represents the promise of eternal love and commitment, telling everyone else that you are taken by more than they could ever understand. The necklace is the promise of family - that if anything were to ever happen to your mate, that the remaining family would take care of you.

If you don't want to partake, I would understand. But it is something that the elves think highly of, and after hearing about the human customs, I thought ours was much better.

See you at school!  
Kailyn."

Harry closed the box slowly as his mind tried to wrap around what she was saying. Three vows to a loved one... not like he had anyone like that, really. But it was a nice gesture from the young girl. The more he thought about it, the more he found himself liking the idea.

His heart skipped a beat when Hermione touched his arm, making him jump a bit. "Harry," she called to him. When he blinked and looked to her, she smiled. "Sorry, you seemed lost suddenly. What did she give you?"

"Uh... some elven candy," he said easily with a wave of his hand. "I got sort of hooked on the stuff while I was there. I think I'll save it for later, though. The letter is just asking about the school. I think you'd be better suited for that, though, Hermione. You could just quote her Hogwarts: A History, right?"

A ripple of laughter ran across the room, and Hermione couldn't help but grin as well. She then picked up the last package and handed it to him. "I guess mine's the last one, Harry," she said. It might have been his imagination, but it seemed to him that she seemed a bit nervous suddenly. "I hope you like it."

"I'll bet it's a... book!" Ron said, pausing slightly as he spoke.

Before the two could say anything else, Harry ripped the paper off to find himself holding a very old looking book. It was more of a tome than anything else. "The Source of Magic and the Power of Charms, Curses, and Jinxes," Harry read aloud as he brushed the slight amount of dirt from the spine. It was obviously very old, and had seen better days.

"Are you serious, Harry?" Arthur spoke up, stopping his conversation with the twins as he looked back to Harry. He saw the book in his hands and let out a small gasp of surprise. "My word, it really is..."

"How did you find that, Hermione?" Tonks asked.

Harry frowned as he looked back to the book. "What's so hard to understand?" Harry asked. "Hermione could find any book she wanted to, right?" he asked, looking back to her with a grin.

"Harry," Moody said from behind him. When Harry turned, he found both the normal eye and the magical one fixed on him. "That book is ancient, and thought to be lost to the world. It was one that was handed down through the Merlin line, until that line vanished. The book was supposed to have vanished then, too."

"I..." Hermione seemed to falter slightly before pressing onwards. "I thought it would come in handy for the DA," she explained. "You knowing the theory and all behind magic and abilities and all that."

"Where did you find it, Hermione?" Harry asked in surprise, looking at the book in an all new light. "It must have cost a fortune!"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think the guy selling it knew what it was," she explained. "I ran across it in the summer at a flea market, and I thought of you right away." She looked away from him as she felt the blush creep up her cheeks.

He opened the cover slowly, and found a note written on a blank piece of parchment. "I'll give you the rest of your gift later. Meet me in my room before bed." He looked back to Hermione, who was watching him intently again, and he nodded so slightly that no one else could notice, and she smiled broadly to him.

"Could you describe the man, Miss. Granger?" Moody asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said a bit taken aback by the question. "Later, alright?"

"Don't forget. I'm going to look into this matter... if a book like that was in the hands of a muggle, I'm going to have to have a word with a few people in the Ministry of Magic..." he muttered.

Harry wasn't entirely sure what happened for most of the rest of the day. He remembered vaguely as he climbed the stairs to get ready for bed that there was a great deal of odd games that Luna had come up with, a lot of eating food that Mrs. Weasley had prepared, and more than one practical joke played on almost everyone - including both Fred and George! The only one who had been exempted from the jokes had been Harry himself, though he remembered that he didn't laugh very hard when Hermione suddenly vanished, and then reappeared with purple hair and her arms on backwards. The charm had worn off quickly enough, but he just hadn't found it very funny, as she seemed more embarrassed than he had ever remembered seeing her.

It was on that thought that he remembered the note that she had left him in the ancient book. With a deep breath as thought preparing himself for some sort of battle, he set the last of his gifts down on his desk and left his room. Down the hall, he knocked gently on Hermione's door, hoping it was loud enough for her to hear him.

The fact that the door opened instantly told him that she had been waiting for him.

She smiled almost nervously to him as she shut the door behind him, and then sat down on her bed. "Oh, Harry, I hope you had one of the best days of your life today. You deserve it, after all," she said softly.

He stood in the doorway for a moment before sitting next to her on her bed. She looked over to him, and he suddenly noticed that she was holding a small box in her hands. "What's that?" he asked quietly.

"The rest of your present," she whispered. "But I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone else."

He took it curiously and opened the velvet white lid carefully. On the inside was a glistening gold bracelet. He took it out of the box without a word and looked carefully at it. On the inside of the bracelet, he found his initials had been engraved. The bracelet itself was less than half an inch thick, but was substantial enough to know it was there. There was an odd weaving pattern etched into the gold, and he looked up to see Hermione looking at him expectantly.

"It's beautiful, Hermione," he admitted.

"I wasn't sure what to put on the inside, and I wasn't sure how you were going to react, and so I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone else in case you hated it," she said quickly. "And if you don't want it, I'll understand completely and take it back and we can never speak about it again..."

"'Mione," he said gently, stopping her from saying anything else. He closed the box carefully and set it down on the bed between them. "What do you know about elven customs?" he asked.

She blinked as though surprised by the question, and then put on her thinking face. "Not a lot," she admitted. "I remember something about birthday parties, gathering together as a family to discuss the year and life... and I remember reading something about a passing ceremony for when you come of age. I couldn't find a lot else, though, no one knows much about the elves."

"Can I tell you about another ceremony?" he asked, not meeting her eye.

"Sure," she said slowly.

"Elves exchange three vows when they select a life partner," Harry explained. "You know, get married," he said, correcting himself to use the human expression. "Sort of ways for people to identify that the elves in question have someone else, as well as a confirmation that you always have someone there. Rings are given during the ceremony, and represent much what wedding rings do," he said.

"Okay," Hermione said slowly, processing the information. "Three vows for the one you love," she whispered, her face turning crimson as she looked away from him, even though he wasn't really looking at her either.

"Then there is the necklace," Harry added. "The necklace, apparently, is a vow that the family of the elves will always be there to help out in times of need. I think that is really nice, but it doesn't really mean a lot to me, seeing as I have no family that could support anyone."

"You are adopting an elven custom?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Harry nodded. "It seems more meaningful than an ordinary courting or marriage," he said with a nervous grin. "Besides, you know me, anything to stand out from the crowd." Hermione couldn't help but giggle at the sarcasm in his voice. "But seriously, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it."

"Why are you telling me about this now, Harry?" Hermione asked, even though she was more than a little afraid to know the answer.

"The third vow is in the form of a bracelet," he explained, tapping the box that sat between them. "It tells of the deep commitment the two have for each other. It shows everyone that they care for another, and would do anything they could to help the other without hesitation. A promise to protect the other at any cost."

"Oh."

"'Mione?" She looked to him slowly as he said the nickname that she had only ever let him use. "I'm..." he started, but then faltered. She looked into his emerald eyes for a moment before she saw him start to move. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned in and gave her the gentlest of kisses she had ever even imagined. His lips barely touched hers at all before he was pulling away again.

Without a word, he took the white box again and pulled out the bracelet. He held up his left hand meaningfully, and then snapped the jewelry onto the wrist. With a weak smile to her, for she hadn't even moved an inch since he had kissed her, he rose from the bed to leave.

He stopped when she caught his hand, and turned as she pulled him to find his lips pressed against hers. Her arms were around his back, holding him against her, and he just breathed in as he kissed her, revelling in the sweet embrace and scent that was Hermione. She then released him and opened the door for him. No words were exchanged between the two and he left. She didn't close the door to her room until she heard the door to his close further down the hall, and then she sank to her bed unsteadily.  
---------------------  
"Well Sirius," Harry whispered to the mirror as he laid down on the bed in his room. It had been the study that Sirius had often frequently, but Harry had transformed it into his own room when he found that he felt comfort within it. "I guess you saw my birthday today. It wasn't really the same without you."

Harry sighed as he sat up, still looking into the blank surface of the mirror. "It was a great day. Ron gave me a kit to fix my broom, and I guess I'm back on the house team this year. Ginny and Lupin both gave me books for the DA - Dumbledore says I can keep it running, but I have to keep it quiet. Hermione found me this really old book that seemed to worry Arthur and Molly, as well as Mad Eye. They didn't tell me much about it, though, but I'm sure I'll be reading it soon enough."

"I got a bit of other stuff, too. Some sweets, a magical stone from our new Defense teacher - he's really neat, I think you would have liked him. I haven't really met him yet, it's just a feeling that I have. His granddaughter - I think I mentioned her to you, Kailyn? - anyway, she told me about elven customs, and the three vows of emotion. You know... love..."

He sighed as he laid back down on the bed. "Anyway, Tonks gave me a portkey, not the sweets she told me they were. It's to take me and some friends to Hogsmeade at anytime when we need an escape. I don't know when or who with, but it should be fun anyway. Sounds like something you would have tried, if you thought you had a slim chance of getting away with it, anyway."

He was silent for a time before speaking again. "I wish you were still here, Sirius, so I could actually talk to you. I feel kind of foolish talking to a mirror like this. But I think you can hear me anyway. I hope you can give me an answer, too. I've got a problem - a big one. Hermione gave me a bracelet, too. You know that three vow thing I mentioned earlier? I told her about it then, too, and the bracelet is one of them. I kissed her, Sirius. Me. Harry Potter. Kissed Hermione Granger. Then she kissed me back. I'm wearing the bracelet, but I'm not sure if I should. It's just not fair to her."

"Wait, let me back up for a minute. After speaking to her tonight, I know now that I'm falling for her. Hard, Sirius. Harder than when my father fell for my mother. I can't stop thinking about her. And I love that. She is so wonderful. But I hate it, too. By being so close to me, she would be in even more danger than she is just by being my friend. How can I do that to her? I mean..." He shook his head. "I don't know what I mean. I think it's something like 'If you love her, you'll set her free.' I don't want her to die, Sirius. I lose everyone I love. I can't fall anymore for her. If I fall in love with her, she'll be taken from me too. I know it. And I couldn't stand it."

"I have to kill him. You know that, don't you? It's either Voldemort or me. That's what that blasted prophecy said. The very thing that led to your death was some stupid prophecy that said either I would kill him, or he would kill me. If I kill him, it'll be using something he doesn't know, but how is that supposed to help?"

"I can't have her, Sirius. But I can't be without her either. What am I supposed to do?" After a long silence, during which time he half expected an answer from something - anything - he finally set the mirror on his nightstand with his wand and glasses. "Nox."  
-------------------  
In her room, Hermione set her covered mirror aside, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. There was no way she was going to get to sleep that night.

---------------------


	6. The Hogwart's Express

Chapter Six: The Hogwart's Express

Harry apparently slept in the next morning, as the first thing he noticed when he opened his eye fact that a lot of people were moving about in the hall and downstairs. As he slowly got dressed, he realized that it sounded like a few people were planning on going out for the day.

The last thing he did before pulling on his robes again - he felt more comfortable wearing them suddenly, rather than just normal clothes - was to check his bracelet, to make sure it hadn't fallen off in the night. As he expected, he found it snugly attached to his wrist still. He fingered it for a moment, wondering briefly what had gotten into him last night, and then let the sleeves of his robes fall down to cover it.

He found Mrs. Weasley, Luna, and Hermione in the kitchen eating lunch. "Sleep well, Harry?" Molly asked him when she heard him drag a chair out from the table. Luna and Hermione looked to him quickly, as though they hadn't noticed his arrival.

"Yeah... thanks," he said with a grin. "Didn't think I was that tired, but I guess yesterday was a long day. Fun, but long."

"Anything you'd want to have done differently?" Hermione asked him, not meeting his eye.

He shrugged. "Not really," he replied, propping his head up in one hand. This action allowed her to see that he was wearing her bracelet, but it didn't exactly reveal that fact to the world. "It was good. It's just the rest of life that's all buggered up." He sighed as he set his head down on the table. "Yesterday was a dream."

"Dreams are meant to be shared, Harry," Luna said with a grin to him. "Dreams and wishes built the world, remember? Not fears or worries... dreams and wishes." She seemed to be talking more to herself than anyone else in the end, and Harry tuned her out as he looked at the table.

No answers had come to him in the little bit of sleep that he had managed to obtain. Hermione looked dead tired, too, and he closed his eyes slowly. He was responsible for that, too. Two kisses shared, and already she was suffering.

He didn't say another word at the table, and when he finished lunch, he retired to the living room and sat next to the fireplace with one of his new books, the one Lupin had given him. He looked up once or twice when a few people called to him - it was especially difficult to ignore Ron's suggestion of flying practice - but he had come to a realization. It was really something that he had discovered partway through last year after Umbridge had taken away his Quidditch and his best class.

If he poured everything he had into the DA, he could forget most of his troubles. Most of his worries. Most of his fears. He knew that Rozan had tried to enforce upon him a sense that he had to keep alert and not let things get to him, but it wasn't as easy as the time wolf had made it sound. The more he thought about the end of his birthday, the more confused he got, so he did the only thing he could think of.

He planned. After the first couple of days of flipping through books and preparing charts and writing in his lesson planner, almost everyone in the house - his house, he corrected in his own mind - was leaving him alone when he had the books out. They knew how serious it was to him, and how he needed to be alone with his thoughts to prepare.

Of course, the fact that Hermione had taken up the other seat by the fireplace to read didn't always help things. He had caught her simply looking at him once and a while - not to mention catching himself looking at her - but for the most part she either sat and read, or she actually helped him - just like he knew she could. He was glad for that help, but it usually only lasted a few minutes at a time before he would remind himself why he was putting so much into the DA and withdraw again to the books.

There were a few days here and there where he would take a break and go flying with Ron and Ginny, and occasionally Fred and George as well. Whenever he came back from that, he would always find his defense book open to a different page and a few quick scribbles added to his lesson planner.

Hermione's smile was what always drove him out, because it made him want to stay.

Several Sundays later, Harry finally managed to get all his books, clothes, and belongings that he was taking with him into his trunk, although he had to get help from Ron and Lupin to get it to close.

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day," Harry said slowly as he took a seat at the table between Hermione and Ron.

"Mat uay?" Ron asked with his mouth full, earning himself reproving glares from several people in the room. Harry, being used to it, understood completely.

"The day I would consider anywhere but Hogwart's to be home," he said, looking around the kitchen. "That, or the day that I studied for hours on end - I think I beat a few of Hermione's records from last year," he said with a grin to her.

Both his friends chuckled about that, but then Hermione snapped forward and grabbed at his arm. "Harry! Oh, Harry, I figured it out! How could I have been so blind? The answer's been right in front of us this whole time..."

"What answer?" Harry asked cautiously, noticing that everyone in the kitchen seemed to have frozen and were watching their interaction.

"They attacked you because you couldn't call that place your home!" she breathed, giving him a light squeeze. He could feel in one part of his mind the fact that her hand was wrapped around the bracelet he was wearing under his robes, but most of his mind was paying attention to her. "That was part of the charm, remember?"

"What charm?" Harry asked, confused.

"Honestly, don't you pay attention to anything?" Hermione asked, shaking her head, but not letting go anyway. "The charm that protected you at the Dursley's. It was activated by the blood relations, but part of the spell said that you had to return there once a year, and call the place home! It wasn't your home, though. You said it yourself - you considered Hogwart's to be your home."

"I do wish that we were in class right now, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said from the doorway, startling them as they hadn't noticed her appearance. "Because I believe that would have been worth fifty points to Gryffindor! I will have to tell Albus once I get a chance, but for now, we must get moving . The Hogwart's Express is leaving soon, remember?"

Hermione blushed a little at the compliment and, after giving Harry's arm an extra squeeze, she released him and stood from the table. "Let's get going, then," she suggested, looking around the room to the other students there. Aside from Harry and Ron, both Ginny and Luna were there as well.

It was no simple matter to organize everything so quickly, but somehow the group managed it and made it onto the train in time. Once finding an empty compartment, the group of five slide in and sat down. Almost as soon as they had, though, Hermione leapt to her feet again.

"Come on, Ron, we have to go to the prefect's cabin, remember?" she said, pulling him to his feet. Obviously she hadn't really thought things through very well when they had entered the cabin, as she was on the inside and had to climb over Harry to get out. As he leaned back to give her more room, though, he noticed her hand deliberately entering one of the pockets of his robes, depositing a rolled up bit of parchment. Once she was standing, she looked meaningfully at him briefly before looking to the others as well. "We'll be back later, don't worry."

As the train shuddered into motion again, Ginny and Luna both sat forward. "So, Harry, what are you planning for the DA this year?" Ginny asked almost at once. "You've been working so hard at it, I'm sure it's something amazing, right?"

Harry didn't reply right away. His mind was on the parchment in his pocket. When he looked up to them and saw both their expectant faces, he groaned. "Sorry," he explained as he stood quickly. "I don't think lunch is agreeing with me. Be right back." he stopped at the door to the compartment and withdrew his gold sack and tossed it onto the table. "If the snack lady comes by, get me a bit of everything, and a couple of extra Chocolate Frogs for Ron. Hopefully I'll be feeling better by then..."

Ginny nodded, and he stepped out, relieved his ruse had worked. He should have known it would... it wasn't a far fetched lie or anything. He had gotten away with bolder half-truths before, after all. The help from Fred and George had taught him a great deal about it. This year was bound to be different without those two around.

He walked down several train cars, pausing briefly to speak with a couple of other students as he went. Ernie and Seamus were playing Exploding Snap in the middle of the aisle, while Michael Cormier and and a fourth year Ravenclaw that Harry didn't recognize seemed to be talking rather heatedly inside another one until he walked passed, at which point both said hello to him.

Once he finally made it to the loo, he closed the door swiftly and locked it behind him. He then sat down a little unsteadily on the chair in the room - he had never really understood why it was there until then - and pulled the note out of his pocket.

"Harry,  
I know the risks. Trust me. But I don't care. You should know that by now. I ignored the risks just to stick with you before. And I know that they are even higher now. But I still want to try to be with you, if you'll let me. I know what the bracelet means, you explained it to me. You are promising to keep me safe. Just please remember that it is part of the three vows. You don't have to keep me safe from yourself.  
If you don't want to see what we could have together, if anything, then I'll still be your friend. I can't promise you anything about the future, you know how I feel about Divination, after all, but I can promise you that I will be there to help you, whether you want it or not. If you don't want to try at anything more than what we have right now, though, I'll understand - just destroy this note and we'll pretend I never wrote it.  
With love,  
Hermione."

Harry folded the note up carefully and tucked it back into his robes. He was crying, even if he wasn't man enough to admit it. He simply sat there on the chair and let the tears roll down his cheeks for a few minutes until a lurch in the train reminded him of where he was. Quickly, he stood up and washed his face with a touch of cold water.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and started back down the corridor for his compartment. He returned to find the two prefects back from their duties already, and a large pile of sweets sitting on the table.

"Hope you don't mind that we ordered a little extra," Ron said as he ripped open a Chocolate Frog and bit it's head off almost savagely to prevent its escape.

"I'm always telling you that it's my treat, but you usually refuse. Guess I figured out how to convince you, eh? Just leave!" Harry said with a grin as he pushed Ron over and took a seat next to him. Hermione was in the middle of a pastry cream, and licked her fingers before looking to him.

"Feeling any better, Harry?" she asked. "Ginny and Luna told us you weren't feeling well, but we were about set to send out a search party anyway. You were gone for almost an hour."

Harry shrugged as he picked up a bag of lemon drops. "I got tied up saying hi to a few people."

"And you left me out... how touching..." Harry didn't have to turn around to know who the drawling voice belonged to. "And here I was beginning to think you cared."

Harry decided that he didn't really want to turn to talk to Malfoy right then, but an orange streak shot passed him, making him turn around quickly to find the Slytherin prefect being attacked by none other than Hermione's kneazle Crookshanks.

Harry stood up quickly and grabbed for the catlike creature, and was rewarded by claws up his arms. Not stopping anyway, he caught the animal by the waist and pulled him off his enemy. As soon as he was free, Malfoy had his wand levelled at Harry.

It was then that he noticed the two large students behind Malfoy - his drones, Crabbe and Goyle. Both also had their wands out. He didn't really have a chance, not with an angry cat in his arms.

He ducked to the side as two jets of light shot passed him and struck both Crabbe and Goyle, encasing them in giant bubbles until they fell to the floor. He turned in surprise, and Luna shrugged as she picked up the most recent edition of the Quibbler again. "Their smell was getting to me," she explained.

"Here, Hermione," Harry said as he leaned over to return Crookshanks to her owner. Once he had released the animal, he turned back to Malfoy.

"Thank god," Malfoy sneered. "And here I thought you were about to kiss that mudblood, too. That would have been far too much..."

A deafening bang echoed up and down the train car, and several compartment doors shot open to see what had happened. Harry was standing in the entrance to his cabin, his wand held unsteadily before him. Malfoy, on the other hand, had been smashed against the other side of the train, and was lying on the ground out cold.

Harry was fuming mad, and he barely registered the fact that there were people cheering for him. He stood there breathing heavily until he felt hands on his shoulders. That brought him back to reality somewhat, and made him question exactly what spell he had cast, but he didn't know. He turned, his eyes still narrowed in anger, and found both Ron and Hermione pulling him back inside.

"You'll probably get a detention for that one, mate," Ron muttered to him once he was sitting down. "But even if it was a week with Umbridge all over again, I'd say it had to be worth it, right?"

"If he calls her a mudblood one more time..." Harry replied angrily. He caught her brown eyes unexpectedly with his emerald ones, and that calmed him down suddenly more than he had thought possible. She looked a little worried, but mostly pleased. He shrugged. "I'm not standing for it. It's not right, and everyone knows it."

"What is a mudblood, Harry?"

Everyone turned quickly to the door again and found it had been opened without a sound. Standing just inside was a young girl who looked to be a first year. She had short blonde hair and green eyes, and was wearing a green tunic and brown slacks.

To everyone's surprise, Harry smiled and motioned her to have a seat with them. "Everyone, I think I told you all about Kailyn," he explained, looking around. "Well... here she is, I guess."

"Can I try to guess names?" she asked before he could continue.

Harry frowned in surprise, but shrugged. "Sure. I guess I told you a bit about everyone here at some point or another."

"You muttered in your sleep some, too," she said with a bit of a giggle. Turning, she looked first to Ginny. "Well, you are a Weasley, I guess, with hair like that. Given that you're a girl, that would make you Gin, right?"

"Uh... Ginny," Ginny corrected her with a glare at Harry.

"Sorry Ginny," Harry said quickly. "You never seemed to mind when we called you Gin, and it must have slipped my mind..."

"You're Luna," Kailyn continued before Harry could say anything else. "And you must be Ron with hair like that. That, and it looks like you are eating everything in sight."

Ron hit Harry in the arm, but was smiling anyway.

"So last but not least, you must be Hermione," Kailyn suggested, looking across the table to her. "And I'm guessing that is Crookshanks."

"Right on all counts," Hermione said with a grin. She then looked over to Harry. "You must have talked about us a lot for her to know us all already, but you barely said a thing about her."

"It's a gift I have," Kailyn explained. "I can recognize people I've never met. Makes things interesting sometimes, but few people have ever complained."

Harry, in the meantime, had waved aside Hermione's objection with his left hand, as his right was currently still gripping his wand in a deathlike state.

"So your grandfather's the new teacher this year?" Ginny asked the girl.

"Yeah," she said with a shrug. "But don't spread it around too much. I want to be me."

"You didn't answer her question, Harry," Luna pointed out as she set her magazine down. "Are you calm enough now to talk about it?"

Harry glared out the compartment door at the still body of Malfoy and his goons, and then shrugged, looking back to Hermione. "I made a promise," he said softly. He then looked back to Kailyn as though he hadn't said anything. "A mudblood is a really foul name for someone who doesn't come from a pure wizarding family," he explained. "One of the greatest insults you'll hear at the school. Only a couple of people are low enough to utter it."

"They..." Kailyn was suddenly looking a lot quieter and withdrawn than she had been a moment ago. The bubbling enthusiasm had died down into quiet fear. "They don't have names for half breeds, do they?"

"What, you're a half breed?" Ron asked at once. Luna kicked him under the table, and he stifled a curse, but didn't say anything else.

"I'm not all elf, that's for sure," Kailyn mumbled.

"You'll be fine," Harry reassured her. "You look human, and they won't know the difference anyway. Besides, from what I've seen of your grandfather so far, having a bit of elven blood should be a good thing. Mind you, I don't think blood matters much, myself."

"What do you mean, Harry? It kept you safe for years!" Hermione pointed out.

"I think what matters it your heart and mind," Harry replied. "Cause I don't care that you are from a non magical family, or that Ron is a pure blood. I'm sort of stuck in the middle, and I don't care."

"Thanks," Kailyn whispered. She then looked up. "So, did you like my present?"

"Uh..." Harry stumbled. He had told the others that it was elven candy. This could be a problem. "Actually, I did. Thank you very much, Kailyn. I'll be sure to..."

"Oh, Kailyn," Hermione interrupted suddenly leaning towards the younger girl. "We'll be approaching Hogwart's soon, so I think you should get changed before too much longer."

Kailyn leapt to her feet in an instant. "Right! I almost forgot completely... I hate those robes, though, too confining," she said, shaking her head. "Well, I'll see you around."

She was out the door without another word, and stepped both over and on Malfoy as though he wasn't even there as she left. The speed she was moving made it incredible how silently she moved, too. The door had shut before anyone had even realized it.

"Well, we should get changed, too," Ginny pointed out as she looked outside. "We are getting a little close, aren't we?"

"Right," Ron said, standing at once. "We'll leave to let you get changed," he said, clouting Harry on the arm when he didn't move.

"I'm not feeling too well again," Harry muttered as he set his head down on the table. This time, he wasn't lying. The realization of what he had done to Malfoy earlier was starting to sink in, and he didn't really want to be in trouble before the school year had even started.

"Then cover your head with your arms so your robes cover you, and don't move until we say you can, got it?" Hermione suggested. "If that's okay with you two, anyway..." she added, looking over to Ginny and Luna.

"I trust Harry," Luna said as though she were still reading from the closed magazine in front of her. "He won't look."

"Get out, Ron," Ginny said firmly to her brother.

"Gee, thanks," Ron muttered sarcastically under his breath. Nevertheless, he turned and left the compartment as his sister drew the blinds closed. He was surprised when he got outside and found that Malfoy was gone. "Must've woken up... the git."

Once Ron returned to the inside and told Harry that the three were gone, he felt as though a great burden had been released from upon him. He looked to Ron and grinned. "Guess I'll have to skip that detention that Snape would've given me, then," he muttered as the group made their way off the train once it had shuddered to a stop. The gut wrenching feeling was fading fast, and he was feeling like his normal self again.

As always, Harry paused once his feet were on solid ground and simply looked across the large lake at the magnificent castle that was Hogwart's... his school. Lights were flickering in several of the towers, but it was obvious even from the great distance that everything was focusing on the great hall.

Beyond the castle, he could just make out the rings of the hoops on the Quidditch field. He stopped looking, though, when he heard the loud voice calling over the crowd.

"'Arry, Ron, 'Ermione!" The three turned to wave back to Hagrid, and he grinned to them. "See ya later, you three!" The teacher of Care of Magical Creatures then turned his massive back on them and started shouting to the first years to follow him.

"Wonder how Grawp is this year?" Ron muttered under his breath as they turned away. Harry didn't feel like thinking about the giant hiding in the Forbidden Forest, and so he ignored him.

A sinking feeling came over Harry without warning as he looked to the carriages that would take everyone else up to the castle. He hadn't ever wanted to see the Thestrals again. But they were there, plain as day to him, and the scant few others who attended Hogwart's that had seen someone die.

He was surprised to find Ron on one side of him suddenly and Hermione on the other, half steering half guiding him to the closet couch to get inside. He must have looked as bad as he suddenly felt.. All he managed was a weak smile to them as he sat down, and they flanked him at once. Luna and Ginny climbed in after him, and then Neville appeared and joined them as well. The entire group who had defied all logic, fought against a dozen Death Eaters, and escaped with their lives, were together again.

Harry couldn't speak to any of them as they made their way up to the castle.

Everything changed the moment he stepped foot into the Great Hall. It was just as it should be, and Harry suddenly felt a lot better about everything as he looked around. Even as he remembered the last time he had been within the Hall, he still felt better being back.

Not only was the night sky absolutely fabulous through the ceiling, but the decorations were on the level of trying to upstage his birthday party. He froze, though, as he heard the soft growl, but as he looked around the hall, he realized that he must have been imagining it. There was no sign of the time wolf anywhere.

As he took his seat at the Gryffindor table and nodded to each of his classmates and friends who greeted him, he noticed that there were three seats not filled at the staff table. Hagrid was still with the first years, as was McGonagall, he was sure. But the third chair, that which belonged to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, was also empty.

"Any idea where he is?" Ron asked him, nudging him.

"How would he know, Ron? He just got here, too," Hermione pointed out.

Ron shrugged. "He did meet the guy before, remember?" he replied. "I thought he might have mentioned something."

Harry didn't reply right away, as he had just noticed Hagrid slipping in the side door. Slipping in wasn't the right term, really, not for a half giant, but it was what the man had tried to do, that much was obvious. He turned with half the rest of the school towards the large double doors that the first years would be coming through any minute now.

Sure enough, the doors swung open slowly, revealing Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor, leading a long line of timid, scared looking first years down the centre of the hall. She stopped once she reached the end next to the stool with the Sorting Hat on it, and turned around to face the first years.

The rip on the brim of the Sorting Hat caught everyone's attention as it opened slowly as though yawning. Once all eyes were upon it, sound started to emerge, though it was not what anyone expected at all.

"Ignore my warning, and it will repeat. I will do my duty to the school and to the founders, but I will not do so happily. Splitting the students into houses... dividing to allow conquest... it is not what the founders had in mind. Great Gryffindor the brave, Ravenclaw the wise, Hufflepuff the kind, and Slytherin the ambitious... your ideas will be passed on."

It could not really be called a song. For one, the hat had simply spoken the words, rather than sing them. Also, judging by the murmurs that were apparent at the Staff Table, it had never practically refused to do its duty before, either.

Professor McGonagall appeared to be a bit unnerved as well, but she did better than most at hiding it. "When I call out your name, you will come up and sit on the stool, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head. It will tell us which house you are to be Sorted into, and then you can make your way to the appropriate table."

"Ali, Lisa."

Harry zoned out almost at once as he looked down the long line of students to be sorted. He found Kailyn near the middle, and found himself feeling almost as nervous for her as he had for himself when he had started. He almost missed clapping loudly for the first Gryffindor to be sorted, though he did miss the name entirely. He heard Ron's stomach growl, though, which brought a small grin to his face.

It took a moment for him to realize that the growl he had heard was not coming from Ron. The only reason he actually clued in was because Hermione was nudging him to get his attention, and trying in vain to point to the main doors without making it obvious.

He turned slowly away from the line of first years, his heart skipping a beat as he looked. The great blue and white time wolf that had visited him over the summer was slowly walking into the hall. The fact that McGonagall had stopped calling out names said that she had also noticed the creature, and by the whispers that were echoing through the Great Hall, she was not alone.

"I don't believe it," Harry heard Hagrid say as the half giant stood slowly from his chair. "If I didn't see it wit me own eyes, I wouldn't believe it."

Rozan the time wolf trotted up between the tables, right next to the line of first years, many of whom leapt out of the way as though afraid that the wolf might turn at any minute to attack any of them. The time wolf paused next to Harry and turned to look at him for the barest of moments.

_Calm your mind._

It was the only thing that the wolf said before continuing, and then sat down lazily in front of the staff table. Dumbledore seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised, and he looked down to the wolf for a moment.

"I suppose that this would be an excellent time to announce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, although I would have thought he wouldn't be arriving until after the sorting had finished," Dumbledore announced in a loud voice that quelled all the wild whispering that was running through the halls. "First of all, the creature that you can all see before you is named Rozan, and we are very fortunate to have him within our walls. He is one of the last time wolves, after all."

Everyone followed the Headmaster's line of vision as he turned towards the empty chair that was to house the new teacher. "We have had rather poor luck in our Defense teachers for several years, unfortunately. I must say that I believe last year was one of the worst... though I would never speak ill of a teacher, of course," he added with the barest of smiles to the students. A few of the bolder sixth and seventh year students made horrid retching sounds at his statement, but he ignored them. "This year, we are very fortunate to have among us a new teacher again, one that was no easy feat for me to find, either. Please welcome Professor Talisien," he announced, motioning to the empty chair.

A few of the students clapped uncertainly, as there was no one sitting in the chair, but just as suddenly the elf that Harry and Hermione had seen in Grimmauld Place appeared there standing. If they hadn't been watching very carefully, they would have sworn that he had been there the entire time, and they just hadn't noticed.

The effect on the students was immediate. Dozens of whispers started spreading instantly. "How did he appear like that?" "Does he have an invisibility cloak or something?" "Maybe he apparated in..."

Harry grinned to Ron as they heard the last one, and turned to Hermione before she could speak. "I believe that in a certain book it outlines how apparating within Hogwart's is impossible, right Hermione?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes at his question, but she was grinning as well. "I don't know how he pulled it off, but if he's got an invisibility cloak, then I guess he's not the only one, is he?" she replied knowingly, teasing him right back.

"I don't think he has one," Harry whispered in reply. "Remember how he disappeared from... home, and then reappeared behind us?"

"What are you two on about?" Ron interjected.

Neither had a chance to reply before Dumbledore was talking again. "Now, let us continue with the sorting. I believe there is the matter of an excellent feast once it is over, and I, for one, am looking forward to filling my belly with many delicacies."

"Very well, Headmaster," McGonagall said, turning back to the students and looking down at her list. "Kailyn... just Kailyn," she added hastily when she realized that there was no last name listed.

As the young girl walked forward and picked up the sorting hat, Hermione caught his eye, and she looked to his pocket curiously. She wanted to know what he had done with the note... if he still had it or not, in other words. Harry dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a few things. He knew that Hermione was watching him, and so he very carefully returned her note to his pocket, making sure she saw that he had read through it and hadn't destroyed it. He then picked up the small bag of Berty Bott's Every Flavour Beans and tossed them onto the table before dumping the rest back into his pockets again. He didn't really feel like trying his luck with them any further. That, and he needed some excuse for suddenly rifling through his pockets.

He looked back up to Kailyn, who was sitting perfectly still on the small stool with the hat down over her eyes. It seemed to him that it was taking an awfully long time to decide her house, and he wondered briefly if it had taken the same amount of time for him as he had argued with the hat about which house not to be in. He saw her lips moving wordlessly, and knew that she, too, was talking to the hat.

The rip opened again, and Harry realized that he was holding his breath. He released it as the hat shouted out Gryffindor, and he cheered as loudly - if not more so - than the rest of his house as she took the hat off with a weak smile and made her way over to sit with the other first years who had already been added to the Gryffindor table. He caught her eye as she sat down and winked to her, and she smiled back, tapping her left wrist as she looked away to speak with another first year that Harry knew he didn't know.

Confused, he looked down to his own wrist and saw the glint of gold showing just a little bit under his robes. He smoothed them down nervously as he looked back to the sorting, wondering how many other people had noticed. The fact that nobody had said anything told him that nobody probably had.

Once the last first year had been called into a house - Hufflepuff, as it were - and once Hermione had finished muttering under her breath at Ron to stop calling them all midgets, Dumbledore finally stood up again. "There is a time for speeches, and a time for listening. Thankfully, this is not that time. Tuck in!" As he spoke, there was an audible gasp from the first years, and a murmur of appreciation from everyone else as the food appeared on the table in front of them.

---------------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world,  
The Shadows


	7. The Wanderer

Chapter Seven: The Wanderer 

"That," said Ron in a satisfied voice. "Was easily the best meal I've ever eaten."

"Any meal would be the best you've ever eaten, Ron," Harry said with a grin. "Even if my uncle made it for you, so long as it was edible."

"Hey, a growing boy's gotta eat, right?"

The tinkling of a glass silenced everyone almost instantly as Dumbledore rose from his seat at the head table. As he did so, the food and dishes on the table vanished as well. "Now that our bellies are full and our appetites satisfied, I have a few rules to inform the first years about, as well as reminding our older students who may have forgotten more than just a few..." Even from as far away as he was, Harry could see the blue twinkle in the Headmaster's eye as he looked towards the Gryffindor table. "The Forbidden Forest is so named because it is, in fact, Forbidden. Please do not forget this fact, as there are times when our great Care of Magical Creatures Professor will not be able to find you." There was a murmur of whispers at that statement, but nothing that the Headmaster seemed to take note of. "Also, Mr. Filch has asked me to inform you all that there is a large increase of banned items in the school, covering most of what can be found within Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. For a full list, please see Mr. Filch in his office."

The Headmaster then walked around the table and stood on the ground in front of the students, just before the time wolf Rozan. "Lastly, I would like to thank all students last year who showed their support for me during the difficult times we had, as well as to the staff. I would like to ask, however, that things return to the way they were." He then nodded and clapped his hands. "With full stomachs, it's off to bed. Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl will lead the first years to their common rooms, and give out the passwords."

Harry rose with everyone else and noticed right away that Ron and Hermione had already separated from him to start calling to the first years. He smiled to himself as he heard Ron calling them midgets again, followed swiftly by Hermione's admonishing of him.

"Hey Harry!" He stopped briefly to turn to find Ginny, Sloper, and Kirke coming up to him. "What are the plans for the team this year, Harry?" Sloper asked him.

Harry's mind reeled quickly, remembering all he could about last year's Quidditch season - the season he only managed to play one game in. Sloper was a beater who needed a lot of practice. Same with Kirke. Ginny said she'd take Chaser, but that still left them with two chasers down. "First thing's first," he replied with a shrug. "Figure out who the captain is, and then set a time for tryouts. We need two new Chasers, right?"

"I thought you were the captain..." Kirke pointed out.

Harry frowned and looked to Ginny, who shrugged and didn't meet his eye. Apparently she had told them that he was. "We have to decide as a team," he replied after a moment. "But for now, we've got to get to the common room before we're locked out. I don't suppose any of you know what the password is, do you?"

"Harry, we don't even know who the fifth year prefects are yet," Ginny said. "I don't think any have been appointed yet."

"Dumbledore's been busy," he said reassuringly. "Besides, with Ron and Hermione, we don't have to worry. One of them will be waiting outside in case." With that, he turned and started walking towards the Gryffindor tower, the others in close pursuit. He started to slow down a bit as he approached the painting of the Fat Lady and found Hermione waiting outside. Once the other three had passed him, he stopped completely, to give them time to get inside without him.

"Hi Harry," Hermione said a little awkwardly.

"I read your note," Harry replied, taking a deep breath. "And... well..."

"Oh, this was what I was afraid of!" Hermione said when he trailed off, furious with herself. "I didn't want things to get awkward, and now I've gone and made a mess of things, and we'll..."

"I think I started it, 'Mione," Harry interrupted gently. "By kissing you on my birthday, remember?"

"But I gave you the bracelet first!"

Harry sighed and sank to the floor against the wall next to her. She sat down after a moment, looking to him. "Let's say we're both at fault, then, alright?" There was a long silence before he spoke again. "Like I said, I read the note. I'm willing to try, if you are."

"You are, Harry?" she asked, her tone brightening at once. "I mean, you want to see if there's anything more between us than just..."

"'Mione..." he said softly, and she stopped right away. "I said I'm willing to try. I like you. A lot. And I know that without question. I've been doing a lot of thinking since my birthday... and I'm scared."

"So am I, Harry. But sometimes, you have to take risks, remember?"

Harry smiled to her. "I can take risks. But I don't want to force you to, just by being close to me." He sighed and looked away from her. "I want to try, but I need time, 'Mione. I need time to think, to figure out how I can do this without putting you in danger."

"I don't care about the danger, Harry," Hermione said quickly. "I'm in danger as it is by being your friend and being muggle-born, remember?"

"I know... I know. Am I'm just being selfish anyway, asking you to wait like this. Never mind," he said, starting to stand.

She caught his hand and pulled him back down before he could get very far. "You aren't being selfish, you're being selfless," she corrected him. "You are sacrificing yourself for my sake." He could see that there were tears in her brown eyes, and that thought hurt him more than he had thought possible. "Like I said, I don't care if I am in danger. I want to be near you."

"Are you willing to give me time, or do you need the answer right now?"

Hermione smiled sadly to him as she wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her robe. "I made up my mind over the summer before buying your present, Harry. I decided my path. When I thought you died... it felt like a part of me had died, too." She kissed him on the cheek lightly and then stood herself. "I'll wait as long as you need."

"Thanks," he said as he held out a hand to her and she pulled him up. "You really are the best..." He pulled her into a hug and sighed into her bushy brown hair. "I'll make sure you know when... you'll be the first to know, alright?"

"Thanks," she returned, and then caught his left wrist and inched her hand up his sleeve to cover his bracelet. "And thanks for sticking up for me on the train. Just don't do it again, okay? I don't want you expelled on my behalf..."

Harry shook his head and looked away from her. "I told you what this meant, 'Mione. I'm not taking him insulting you anymore this year. Anyone else, either. I want to protect you from everything I can."

"I can protect myself too, Harry," she reminded him gently, and he looked back. "So please, please, please, promise me you won't hex anyone again because of me."

Harry closed off his emerald eyes so he could no longer see her and took a deep breath. "Unless you are in physical danger, or it is something a lot more serious than Malfoy being a git - a fact that, let's face it, we can't control - I will not step in. Alright?"

She smiled to him and turned to the Fat Lady. "I take it your conversation is finally over?" the Fat Lady asked. "Password?"

"Voldemort," Hermione replied with a glance to Harry. For his part, he raised an eyebrow to ask without words. "It's like you said last year. Fear of the name increases fear of the object. I wanted to help people prepare, so I picked this." She then took his hand and pulled him towards the entrance. "McGonagall knows, and even though she's not thrilled about the idea, she's letting it stand."

"Good night, Hermione," Harry said as she released his hand and they stepped into the common room one after the other. The room was mostly empty save for a few sixth and seventh year scragglers, and Harry made his way over to Ron and told him he was heading up for bed.  
---------------------  
"Oh... double Potions first thing again?" Harry groaned as he picked up his schedule that had just been placed before him. "Do they plan it this way to give me the worst start possible each term?"

"Sorry, mate, can't hear ya complainin!" Ron replied as he picked up his own schedule. "I've got Charms first, then double Herbology. Mmm... feels good not to see anything with Snape on it."

"Stuff it," Harry replied as Hermione sat down next to him. "How's your schedule look?"

She shrugged as she piled up breakfast on her plate and looked over to his. "About the same as yours. I don't get a break on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though, when you do. I have Arithmancy then."

"Well..." Harry said between bites of his pancakes. "At least there'll be one friendly face in Potions, then. Charms won't be the same without you though, Ron."

"I know," Ron replied solemnly. "No one to tell me what I'm doing wrong..." he added with a side glance to Hermione. "Hey, what do you have this afternoon?" he added after a moment, looking back to the parchment in front of him.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts all afternoon," Harry replied, double checking. "Every day... I hope he's as good as I think he is."

"I've got the same," Ron replied.

"Same here," Hermione added.

"Wait, you've got Defense in the afternoon too?" Harry turned down the table and saw Ginny looking down to them. "So do I."

"Me too!" another voice called. A boy Harry knew was in seventh year was looking at them from further down. "What do ya reckon it means?"

Dumbledore was standing at the head table before anyone could reply, and everyone fell silent at once. "As many of you have surely noticed by now, all fifth years through seventh years are to gather here, in the Great Hall, after lunch for your Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Your new Professor will explain things from there."

"Blimey," Ron breathed, looking around the room.

"Bugger," Harry muttered. When both looked to him, he motioned behind him towards the Slytherin table. "That means they're with us, too."

"It won't be too bad, Harry," Hermione said urgently. "With this many people, I doubt we'll even notice him."

"Well, I know he'll be in Potions anyway," Harry sighed. "Might as well get going. Thinking about that's made me lose my appetite already..."

As he stood, Hermione got up as well and shouldered her bag to go with him. The two walked in silence down the halls towards the dungeons that held Snape's classroom, and found the door open. There were two other students inside already, neither of whom they recognized from previous potions classes, which meant they must have been from either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Hermione could see as Harry sat down that he was not looking forward to the class - not that she could blame him, given Snape's track record of making life difficult for him - so she gripped his hand on the desk briefly before letting go again and pulling out her book.

Harry counted himself lucky that Snape came into the classroom when he did. He was sure it was the only time he had ever been thankful to Snape in his life, but given that Draco Malfoy had entered just a minute ahead of him had something to do with it. He'd take Snape any day over Malfoy.

His black robes flowing behind him, Snape turned swiftly once reaching the front of the class and folded his arms before him, gazing at the class coldly. "So... this is the best and brightest of our potion makers within Hogwarts, is it?" he asked in a cold voice, eyes darting across the room. "Everyone here did receive an Outstanding in the Potions' OWLs, correct?" When no one answered, he continued anyway. "Good. Then let's see what we can do with your so-called intellect."

Harry groaned to himself as Snape started walking around the room. He had parchment out with his quill sitting next to it, and his textbook sitting on his desk as well. He had actually leafed through it this year, but he doubted it would do him any good.

"Tell me, Potter, the first step in brewing the Drought of Stability." Harry looked up into Snape's cold eyes as the teacher sneered down at him. "If you belong in this class, you should be able to tell me the simple answer to that. Can you?"

Harry broke the gaze and looked to his textbook. "I don't know, sir."

"Pity. I would have thought that even you could have taken the time to read through the text during the summer, Potter. Or do you conveniently forget how to read over the holidays? Ten points from Gryffindor, then..." Snape swept back to the front, and Harry forced the anger he was feeling out of the way again. He knew that Snape had seen him working on the DA plans over the summer. "Very well, Potter, perhaps you can at least tell me what the Drought of Stability is used for..."

Harry chanced a glance to Hermione, hoping for some sort of hint, and made brief eye contact with her. An instant calming feeling swept through him as he did so, and he looked back to Snape with more than a little difficulty. Somehow, though, his mind held the answer that he needed. "The Drought of Stability is used by Healers, sir, when a patient is hovering on the brink of death. It puts them into a catatonic state that they will not awaken from until the antidote is given, which is absorbed through the skin. This Drought is always used as the last resort, as it can have lasting effects such as dizziness, partial loss of hearing, or blindness." He took a deep breath to continue, but Snape cut him off first.

"Very well, Potter. It appears that you aren't completely useless after all. I will see you after class, though." He then swept to another part of the room and started asking much simpler questions of other students.

Harry tuned most of them out as his mind was racing with thoughts about the Drought. A potion that could stave off death... this must have been the potion that Snape had been referring to during Harry's first year - putting a stopper on death. Even without looking, he knew it was one of the hardest potions to brew that he had ever come across, but he did know the ingredients. That thought was an odd one as well, as he knew he hadn't actually opened the text before, and no other book he had would mention it.

His mind froze when the other students stood to leave as he remembered that he had to stay afterwards to talk to Snape. Hermione gave him an encouraging glance, and stepped out of the class. He could see her leaning against the wall, and that thought gave him a little heart as he stood to approach the Professor's desk.

"Tell me, Potter, did you think you would get away with it?"

"Away with what, sir?" Harry asked. For once, he had no idea what Snape was even accusing him of. That gave him a little more of a boost, but he knew he was going to be being blamed anyway.

"Performing Legilimency with Miss Granger in my class today, Potter," Snape sneered in response. "And, while I am pleased that you finally managed to grasp the concept that I had tried so hard to drive into your tiny little brain, I will not tolerate it's use in my class. Twenty points from Gryffindor."

"But sir, I didn't do anything!" Harry objected.

"I will make it fifty if you are not out of my sight by the time I count to ten, Potter," Snape replied, sitting back to observe him. When Harry made no motion to leave, he started. "One. Two."

Harry turned and left at seven, seething as he was at the Professor. Once in the hall, he found Hermione still waiting for him. "Oh Harry, that just wasn't fair!" Hermione said almost at once when they started to walk out of the dungeons towards Flitwick's classroom. "Twenty points just for knowing an answer he didn't think you should?"

"He seems to think I cheated," Harry said with a shrug. "You heard him... thinks I raped your mind or something for the answers." As vulgar as it sounded, it was what it had felt like to him every time the Potions Master had performed the spell on him last year.

"But you didn't!" Hermione said instantly. "It's not fair, Harry. You know you didn't!"

"Yeah, well, Snape's never been especially fair with me anyway, has he?" he demanded. The two walked in silence for a few steps before Harry sighed and stopped. When she turned, he looked away from her. "Sorry."

"For what?" she asked in surprise.

"For shouting at you. It's not your fault Snape's a git."

Hermione shook her head and grabbed his arm, pulling him along again until he started walking normally. "Don't worry," she reassured him. "It's not your fault, either. Besides, you wouldn't be Harry if you didn't blow up once and a while, right?"

"There are a lot better targets out there than you, though, 'Mione," he said softly as they pushed the door open for Charms. Inside were quite a few students, ranging across the houses again. He suspected that all the high level classes would be like this. Thankfully, it looked like Malfoy had Charms at a different time, and he wouldn't have to deal with him yet that day.

Once the two found seats together, they looked forward and found Professor Flitwick standing on a box to be a little taller so he could be seen. "I will begin this class by congratulating each of you for making it through your OWL's with high grades. Bravo! Give yourselves a pat on the back," he suggested.

Harry turned to Hermione and patted her on the back, making her grin. "I don't think he meant literally," she hissed. He shrugged.

"I feel it only fair to warn you that the next two years under my tutelage will not be easy times. We will be studying very complex, difficult charms that require a good deal of magic behind them. After all, there are a lot of jobs out there that require high level charms..." He trailed off as a hand went up.

"What jobs need Charms, Professor?" Harry knew the girl who asked was in Hufflepuff, but he wasn't sure where he recognized her from until Hermione pointed out that she was a Chaser on their Quidditch team.

"Glad you asked, dear," Flitwick replied happily. "Charms are needed in all sorts of things, from being an Auror to being a Healer, and almost everything in between. You need to understand Charms to be a curse-breaker for Gringotts, you'll need charms if you are getting into the Magical Creature field, you'll even want charms if you are a part of a Quidditch team - you need to get away from your fans somehow!"

"Sounds like this should be a good class," Harry muttered to Hermione, who broke out into a smile at his words.

"To begin with, today we will be starting our work on the Disillusionment Charm," Flitwick explained. "It will let you blend into the background. Be warned, however, that it will not work well in the halls of the school, for those of you who were planning on using it to sneak around after curfew..." There were a few groans, which only brought about laughter from the rest of the class.

"Right then, the incantation is Disendium," Flitwick explained. "And the wand action is a lot like knocking hard on the surface of your desk once. If done properly, it should feel like breaking an egg over your head. If done wrong..." He had to stop as one of the students in the front row started glowing brightly and flashing neon colours.

Once Lavender Brown had stopped flashing - Harry hadn't realized it was her due to the bright colours and light - Flitwick had the class start trying, and he spent the rest of the class darting all over the room to stop the bright flashes that most students ended up with.

"Disendium," Harry muttered under his breath as he cracked himself in the head. It was one of the most unpleasant feelings that he could remember recently, but was infinitely better than a throbbing scar. A second later, he registered the fact that he thought egg yolk was running down his face, and he looked down to his hands.

They seemed see through, for if he held them up to a desk or the floor, they looked the same. "Well done, Harry," Hermione said softly, not moving. He grinned, knowing full well that she couldn't see him, and reached out and plucked her wand from her hand as she brought it up to try the charm for herself. "Harry!"

"Sorry, 'Mione, I couldn't resist..." he said with a chuckle as he handed it back to her. She lifted it up as he had done and took a deep breath.

"Disendium," she said fiercely and hit herself over the head. She practically vanished from view the next second, and Harry had to look very hard to be able to discern even an outline of her.

"Very good Mr. Potter and Miss Granger!" Flitwick called as he turned to look to them. "Well done. Ten points each to Gryffindor as the first students to do it successfully."

"How do we reappear?" Harry asked, leaning towards Hermione so he could say it softly. The end result of this, as he had lost sight of her again, was the two bumping heads together and him falling into a desk as she sat down hard. Feeling around on the ground carefully, he found her foot and gave it a little squeeze. Her hand was on his the next moment, and she pulled him back to his feet.

"Carefully," she said in return. "You can simply use a Finite Incantatum spell," she replied once she let go, sure that he was steady on his feet again. She must have been pointing at herself when she next spoke. "Finite," she said, and reappeared in front of him instantly.

Pointing to himself, he muttered the words as well and had the oddest sensation of being hosed down by a powerful jet of water, though it didn't feel like he was going to be knocked over. Once the spell had cleared completely, he sat at his desk again. "Well done, Hermione," he said as she sat next to him.

"Well done me?" she repeated with surprise. "I've read the book, I've studied over the summer, I knew all about this one beforehand. What about you, Harry? I say well done to you!"

Harry shrugged. "I read about this one, too, in one of the books I got for my birthday," he explained. "So I guess we were on a level playing field this time. I'm sure it won't last, though."

"If you'd just take a few minutes at the end of each day to study..."

"Hermione, when would I have time?" Harry interrupted her. "Snape gave us a two foot essay on that Drought, remember? And we'll be getting more homework soon enough, I'm sure."

"Just stay on top of it this year, and you'll be fine. You've still got that planner I gave you last year, don't you?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "I guess so."

"Then don't forget to use it!"

It was with great relief to Harry that class let out at that very moment, and he stood up and shouldered his bag. Together, the two made their way to the dinning hall, and found Ron already there, stuffing his face. To their surprise, Luna was sitting with him, and not at the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey, Ron," Harry said, clapping him on the shoulder as he sat down next to him. Hermione sat down right beside Harry, and started looking at the food before pulling out a textbook to flip through. "How was your morning?"

"I don't even have to hear how your morning was to know that mine was better," Ron replied with a grin, looking over to him. "Alright, so in Charms I messed up pretty bad and started flashing and glowing, but Herbology was great! We were looking at the phoylasid plant. Apparently, it is the main ingredient of something called the Drought of Stability, and is very rare. I guess the new Professor brought a bundle of plants with him when he came, because Professor Sprout was almost shrieking about them, she was so excited."

"Yeah, that's funny, cause that's the very potion that got me in so much trouble this morning," Harry said a little dejected. "Snape asked me how to make it, and then took ten points away because I didn't know."

"Well, sounds like Snape's being his usually gitish self," Ron replied with a shrug. "Sounds normal to me, anyway."

"It gets worse," Harry mumbled, reaching across the table for the pitcher of pumpkin juice to pour himself a goblet. "Much worse."

"What did you do, mate?"

"Harry didn't do anything!" Hermione replied, sounding a little bitter herself. "Just because he could answer Snape's next question about the Drought, Snape took twenty more points from us, and then accused him of performing Legilimency against me to get the answer in the first place!"

"Legilimency?" Ron asked in surprise. "He accused you of doin that to get the answer from Hermione?" he repeated. Harry simply nodded and sighed as he set his goblet down. "You must be talking mickey," Ron continued. "He knows that you can't do it, doesn't he? He stopped teachin you, after all!"

"I don't think he cares, Ron."

"Professor Snape is near very fair to the Ravenclaws, either," Luna said suddenly. "So you are not alone, Harry."

"So everyone keeps telling me," Harry muttered so no one else could hear him. "I doubt he'd accuse anyone else of reading minds for answers, though."

Once they had finished eating, Ron leaned back against the table and looked around the Great Hall. "So, what now? We wait for the teacher to arrive?"

A sudden feeling hit Harry, a feeling that told him that he should get to his feet. Standing slowly, because he wasn't sure if the feeling was someone trying to control him or if it was just instinct, he looked around. Hermione stood as well, and then half the table stood. Luna tapped Ron on the arm, but he didn't stand.

The next second, he fell backwards onto the floor as the tables and chairs vanished. Harry, biting his tongue so he wouldn't laugh, hauled him to his feet, shaking his head as he did so. He then looked around, but there was no sign of anyone that wasn't a fifth, sixth, or seventh year student taking Defense Against the Dark Arts.

After about ten minutes of standing around with no word or sign of anything, it was obvious that many of the students were growing restless. Across the hall where the Slytherins were still standing was the most vocal about this.

"Great, so now they hire a teacher who can't even show up on time!" Malfoy slurred in a loud enough voice to carry across the room. "What next, a half breed oaf like Hagrid?" He shook his head now that most people were looking over at him. "I have better things to do with my time than stand around here."

The fact that everyone was looking at Malfoy meant that everyone saw the green cloaked teacher appeared behind him and clear his throat. "If you truly believe that this class is a waste without a teacher in the room, then you should become more observant Mr..."

"Malfoy, sir, Draco Malfoy," Malfoy said proudly. "And I would have seen you if you had been here. I don't miss much."

"Malfoy, you say?" the Professor asked, and then turned and vanished again. When his voice sounded again, he had appeared at the front of the class. "It seems to me that you are a Seeker on your house team, but you often seem to miss seeing the golden snitch. Perhaps you miss more than you imagine..." The Professor then swept his cloak out behind him and sat down in a fluent motion on the ground, still keeping himself covered almost entirely by the dark green fabric. "Ten points from Slytherin for disrespecting a teacher." Harry had to hold himself back from cheering.

The Professor said nothing else and simply sat there until the first couple of students closest to him sat down near him. A couple of seconds later, everyone started moving closer to get a seat on the ground in front of him. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna managed to get second row seats from him, just behind a few fifth year Hufflepuff students.

"Very well, you are all learning already," the Professor said. "My name is Talisien, and you may call me as such, or you may refer to me as Professor, or Professor Talisien. I have been called many things over the years, and most of them I do not mind, but if you insult me, then be warned that I will know, and you will serve detention for it. I will not accept insults in my presence, do I make myself clear?"

The murmur of yes seemed to appease him, as he stood up and walked away from the class. When he turned back to them, Harry caught the glint of gold once again. "I will begin this class by asking what any of you know about me already. Anyone?"

Harry raised his hand right away, as did Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna. Talisien pointed to Harry first. "You are an elf, sir," Harry said with a nod. "You are also married."

"Very good, Mr. Potter," Talisien replied with a nod of his own. "Very good indeed. Ten points to Gryffindor. Anyone else?"

Hermione still had her hand in the air, but the others had put their hands done, so he motioned to her to speak. "You are a waywatcher, among other things."

"How can you tell?" he countered.

"The way you move," Hermione said at once. "You can move without being seen, even though you are right in front of us. You move without sound, even though you are wearing a necklace which should make at least a little noise."

"And how do you know I am wearing a necklace?"

"That is part of being married as an elf, right? Three vows..."

"You must be Miss. Granger, correct?" he asked. When she nodded, he turned around again and started pacing slowly in front of them. "I thought as much. Your talent for learning precedes you. Twenty points, then. Do you know my last name?"

"Last name, sir?"

"I do have one, you know," he replied with a chuckle. "Anyone?" When no answer came, he shook his head. "Very well. I will award one hundred and fifty points to the student who can tell me my last name before the end of the year." He then turned and vanished again, reappearing behind the group. "You are probably wondering why I have gathered you all together like this, am I right?"

"The thought did cross our minds," Malfoy said sarcastically.

"Elves are familiar with sarcasm, Mr. Malfoy," Talisien warned him. "I will tell you why we are gathering like this later. For now, I want to explain something about the differences between human and elven magics." The murmur went unnoticed by the Professor, as he continued almost at once. "Elven magics need no wand to cast them, as we draw the magics from our minds directly and focus it through our core. For human magics, you focus it through the magical core of your wand. I will tell you right now that I can not use a wand. As such, I will not be demonstrating any spells to you."

"Then how are we supposed to learn enough for our OWL's, Professor?" Colin Creevey asked at once. "If we can't perform the spells beforehand?"

"I never said you wouldn't be casting the spells. I said I wouldn't be. I will be casting the elven equivalent, so you can see what it looks like, but I will not be casting your spells. No curses, counter-curses, or jinxes of magics from me."

"Why do you keep saying magics and not magic, Professor?" Everyone looked around as though surprised that Luna had actually asked a question. Apparently she usually spent classes in her own dream world, but still pulled off incredible marks.

"Twenty points to Ravenclaw for keen observation," Talisien declared. "I keep saying magics, Miss..."

"Lovegood."

"Miss Lovegood, because I do not believe that magic can exist as a single entity. Each time you cast a curse, for example, do you put the same amount of emotion and energy behind it, or does it vary just a little? Why, then, would it be the same spell? Shouldn't each potency of each spell be something different if magic is only one object at a time?" He vanished as he took a step forward, and reappeared at the front of the class. "Hence, magics."

There was a pregnant pause then as he turned once more, but then he turned back slowly, almost as thuogh lost in thought. "Now, I want to see what you've learned over the past few years." He pointed to one of the students near the back, and Harry turned to see Zacharias Smith stand up. "Show me the Stunning curse."

Smith withdrew his wand and looked around. "On what target, sir?"

"On me, of course."

"You want me to use the Stunning curse on you, our teacher?"

"That is what I said, right?"

Smith looked around for a brief moment before leveling his wand with a fluent action and shouting out the word. "Stupefy!" The red jet of light shot from his wand and it blew into the elf at the front of the class. Although everyone expected him to go ridge and fall backwards, he simply shrugged off the effects of the spell as though rubbing a bit of dust of his shoulder.

"Very good," Talisien said, turning away and motioning to another student. "What can you tell me about Kappers?"

"They are water creatures that had long, knarled fingers and try to drown you if you get too close," the student from Slytherin replied.

"Good. You, tell me what you know about slinkers."

Another murmur swept the crowd at this. No one had heard of slinkers before. "Er... I don't know, sir..."

Talisien shook his head. "Sorry, that one's my fault. Lethifolds, then."

"Ah," Michael Corner replied. "Well, lethifolds are basically shadows that try to strangle their victims. A Patronus charm can scare them off, but they are essentially unkillable."

"Certainly a deadly force, would you say?"

"Of course, sir."

"Very well. Who would like to show me a Patronus, then?" He looked around the class, and his eyes rested on a raven haired girl who had her hand up. "Yes Miss..."

"Chang sir. Cho Chang. And I think you should ask Harry."

"Maybe I will, but for now, I'd like to see yours, if I could."

Cho seemed taken aback by the request, but she stood up anyway and withdrew her wand. She closed her eyes for a moment and bowed her head before raising her wand again. "Expecto Patronum!" she cried. A wisp of silver light shot form her wand and a half-translucent swan took form and floated out for a few feet before vanishing again.

"Well done, Miss Chang," Talisien commented. "Now... why should I have asked Mr. Potter?"

"He's been summoning Patronuses for a couple of years now. He's the best in the school with them, and I don't think anyone could argue that."

"What's she playing at, Harry?" Ron muttered to him.

"Beats me," he replied, casting a quick glance at Hermione to see her reaction. "I've barely even seen her this year. After the way it was broken off last year, though, I'm surprised she's willing to even speak about me."

"Harry," Hermione whispered. "She wants back in the DA, that's all. She's trying to make sure you'll tell her if it's starting again."

"And why wouldn't I?" Harry asked, turning to look at her.

"Mr. Potter, if you would..." Talisien called his attention back to the class. He stood up quickly and pulled his wand out. "A few students have spoken highly of your Patronus. I would like to see it, if you don't mind."

"Sure," Harry muttered, thinking quickly. His happiest moment... his birthday was pretty good, but the end had a big question mark on it. But that moment still was good... he had to admit that kissing Hermione had felt right, and it was definitely happy, even if his thoughts afterwards weren't.

He took a deep breath and, concentrating on the feeling of her lips against his, he held his wand out before him. "Expecto Patronum!" The silver shot from his wand like a bullet and solidified almost at once into the magnificent stag that he was almost used to seeing by now. The stag cantered about the room once before he let it fade and took a deep breath.

"Well done, Mr. Potter."

"Sir?" Colin Creevy had his hand in the air. Talisien looked to him, and he continued. "What is your Patronum, sir?"

"I'll have to check," Talisien replied as he brought his hands back under the cover of the cloak so he only looked like a large green cloak with eyes, as everything else was cast into dark shadow. He spread his arms outwards again and a silver mist materialized before him and then solidified into the form of a large wolf. As soon as it had appeared, it vanished again. "It appears to be a wolf," he replied.

"You've never summoned a Patronus before?" someone asked in surprise.

"There are very few Dementors out in the forest of Noyadin, and slinkers are dealt with in other, more effective ways."

"Like what, sir?"

No one saw him move, but everyone saw the flash of silver as a dagger with a foot long blade suddenly appeared, wavering at it stuck into the ground in front of them. "This magical blade can destroy them, for one," he replied. "Though it has many other uses as well." He pulled the blade free from the rock, leaving no mark behind, and then brought it back to within the folds of his cloak, presumably to the sheath. He then turned from the class. "I believe that is enough for today." As soon as his words faded, he vanished again.

"Oh, this class is going to be great!" Hermione said excitedly before anyone else could say anything. "He'll be able to show us so much more than any other teacher could hope to. I hope he'll show us how he threw off that curse like that! I didn't even know it was possible? Do you think it was only because he's an elf?"

"It figures that a mudblood would enjoy learning from an elf like that," Malfoy replied as he stood up. "Both freaks of nature, anyway."

He froze instantly as he was picked up from behind, and everyone saw Talisien standing there, holding him out with one hand by the back of his robes. "I believe I warned you, Mr. Malfoy, about insults in my presence, did I not? I will be taking twenty points from Slytherin for that comment, and will give you a warning. Every time you utter the word mudblood in my presence again, Slytherin will lose twenty five points. That goes for anyone else - to your respective houses - as well. I will not tolerate it, understand?" He paused and waited for Malfoy to nod before setting him down. "I should add that my presence does not just mean in class, nor does it mean when you know I am around."

Talisien turned to leave again, but Hermione called out before he could vanished. "Sir?" Once he turned to her, she went on. "What about our textbook for the year?"

The Professor nodded. "Right, thank you Miss Granger, I almost forget the homework assignment. Please prepare a list of three books which you feel would be appropriate for a text book for this class, and give me the pros and cons of each." He then turned again. "Oh, and classes will continue to be together for the rest of the week, and on Friday I will be splitting you up into skill groups to work with instead. In case anyone is wondering, I promise to get everyone taking them through either OWLs or NEWTs, so long as you are willing to listen to what I say."

He then turned and was gone again. Given the fact that the massive doors to the Great Hall were suddenly open told them that he was truly gone this time, and that was when the excited talking began between the students. It looked like it was going to be an interesting year...

-------------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**The Shadows**


	8. Care of Magical Creatures

Chapter Eight: Care of Magical Creatures 

Harry rolled over slowly in his four poster bed and opened his eyes groggily. Once the world came into focus - well, as focused as it got for Harry without his glasses - he realized that there was a sliver of sunlight coming in through the small area that his curtains didn't cover.

He fumbled for his glasses and put them on, and then sat up. "Must be close to ten..." he mumbled as he stretched. Having Tuesday and Thursday mornings off was going to be so nice.

Once he was dressed he realized that he was alone in the dorm room. Taking a deep breath, he opened his trunk and rummaged around in it until he found the old mirror again. "Class looks like it should be good this year, Sirius," he whispered. "But Snape's still a git."

Smiling to himself, he put the mirror into his robe pocket, and heard it knock against the box that held the stone in it. Deciding better of himself, he moved it to an empty pocket where it had a better chance to be safe.

Once he made it downstairs after a quick trip to the loo, he found Ron sitting in one of the large chairs next to the window, absently toying with a chess piece while flipping through his latest issue of "Witch Broomstick?". He looked up as Harry took the seat across from him and nodded. "Wanna game?" he asked, motioning to the wizarding chess board.

Harry shook his head. "I try to make it a point not to be humiliated before lunch time except in Potions," he replied with a grin. "How's your morning been?"

"Couldn't sleep," Ron mumbled, putting his magazine aside. "Been thinking too much about stuff. What do you think of Talisien?"

Harry sighed as he leaned back in his chair, enjoying the comfort of it all. He winced a bit as the handle of the mirror dug into his side, and he placed it on the table face down instead. "He'll keep us on our toes, that's for sure. It'll be different without a teacher who can cast the same spells as us, though."

"I'm not worried," Rom said confidently.

"Yeah? Why not?"

Ron shrugged. "If I don't get it, I'll get you to teach me. I figure we'll be learning a lot in the DA this year anyway."

Harry shot a quick glance around the room to see who else was there. Lavender was sitting by the fire with Crookshanks, and Padma was sleeping on the couch. Both people already knew about the club. "I'll do what I can," Harry promised. "Once we get it going, that is."

"Right," Ron said absently. "Speaking of that, any thoughts about Quidditch this year?"

"Um... yes!" Harry said. "After being banned for most of last year, of course I've got some thoughts. Like... I want to play, and soon!" They both laughed, and then Harry sat forward again. "Say Ron, is your dream still to be the captain of the Quidditch team?"

Ron looked startled by the suggestion, and then apparently thought about it for a minute before answering. "I wouldn't mind, but I don't need it. I've got other things on my mind these days anyway."

"Really?" Harry asked with a grin. "Something other than Quidditch or food?"

"Stuff it, Harry."

He sighed as he leaned back again. "I should warn you, Ginny's got both Kirke and Sloper thinking I'm already the captain, Ron," Harry said after a moment. "But I don't know if I would want it. I mean, it was your dream, right?"

Ron didn't answer right away, and instead looked out the window. Harry followed his gaze to the Quidditch pitch. "Ya know how I got all upset in fourth year, about how you get everything and I get nothing?"

Harry remembered all right. It was some of the hardest few months he had spent at Hogwarts. "Of course I do."

"Things have changed a lot, mate," Ron said. "I mean, I'm a prefect, and they skipped you... for whatever reason. And you've got those bleeding dreams and Snape to deal with. But Quidditch captain is a sweet spot to be..."

"You take it, then," Harry suggested. "I doubt I have time for it anyway with the DA and all, and besides, you know more about it than I do."

"Bullocks," Ron said instantly. "You had Wood for three years. That counts for a lot, Harry. He's first string of Puddlemere now, you know?" Ron then stood. "We'll see what happens when the team gets together, alright? For now, I think lunch is calling to me. Coming?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, picking up the mirror. As he was about to pocket it, he noticed Lavender watching them, and looked to her curiously.

"Nice mirror, Harry," she said, brushing Crookshanks's long orange fur with her fingers. "I think Hermione's got one just like it."

"She does?" Harry asked in amazement, his mind spinning suddenly. There was only one other mirror like this one, and Sirius was supposed to have that. But he didn't have it with him when he died. But then, why would Hermione have it now? "Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, she leaves it on her night stand most of the time."

"Any chance I could see it?" Harry asked, looking back to his own mirror.

"What's with the fascination in mirrors suddenly?" she asked as she stood up. "Not letting the papers go to your head, are you?" The way she was grinning told Harry that she was just teasing him, and so he ignored the comment.

Once she came back down, Harry pocketed his own mirror and took the mirror that Lavender offered him. The same, intricate patterns were woven down the handle, and it looked just as old. The back needed some serious care, as it had long, deep scratches in it, and there was dirt stuck in several of the grooves along the edge of the mirror.

The surface of the mirror itself was clean and smooth, though. As he looked into it, he again saw multiple images shift quickly before he saw his own face reflected back at him. It was all the proof he needed. "Thanks, Lavender," he said, handing it back to her. She looked confused and was obviously waiting for an explanation, but he wasn't sure what he could say. "Uh... I just wanted to check to see if hers was as old as mine. My dad left me this one." Ok, so Sirius had left it for him, but he had said that he and James had used the two of them on quite a few occasions to keep in touch. "Could you... not tell her I know about it, though?"

"Keeping secrets from her now, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you two going out?" Lavender asked.

Harry shook his head with a quick glance to Ron, who didn't seem to be paying attention anyway. "Not really. We talked about it for a bit... but..."

"I won't say a word," Lavender promised quickly when she saw he was getting embarrassed trying to answer. "But you have to promise me something, too."

"What?"

"Two things. First of all, when the DA gets up and running again, you'll tell me, right?"

"Of course."

"Alright, good. Secondly, if things do change between the two of you, but you decide to keep it a secret for a while, at least let me know, okay?"

Harry shrugged. "Why would we keep it a secret?"

Lavender rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Surely you remember all that nonsense in fourth year, don't you?" She was referring to the Rita Skeeter articles that painted Hermione as some love struck witch who had used a potion to capture his heart.

After an uncomfortable moment, Harry finally nodded to her, and she smiled and took off up the girl's side to return the mirror. Harry then turned to Ron. "Shall we eat now?"

"You make no sense sometimes, mate," Ron said quietly, shaking his head as Harry went on ahead of him.

Hermione was already sitting at the table with a plate of taters and a goblet of pumpkin juice, though she wasn't touching either. Instead, she had a roll of parchment next to her and was scribbling in it furiously until Harry sat on one side of her and Ron sat on the other.

"Oh, hi!" she said, rolling it up. "You wouldn't believe how good Arithmancy is going to be this year. He's already assigned the best essay yet, asking for just what we believe goes into each of our spells. I don't think I'll fit it into a foot, though... my rough notes are already three feet..."

"Easy there, 'Mione," Harry said gently with a pat on her arm. "Calm down before you blow something."

"Oh but Harry, this class is going to be wonderful!"

"Good," Harry replied with a grin. "You enjoy it, and I'll enjoy sleeping in."

"Fine," she said a little dejectedly as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"I couldn't join the class anyway, 'Mione," Harry reminded her. "Neither could Ron. We don't have an OWL in Arithmancy, remember?"

"I know..." she sighed. "Be nice to have a friendly face there, though. No one from before the OWLs in my class is still there. A few from the other class made it, but I'm it from the Gryffindors..."

"You'll just have to show some of that Gryffindor courage then, and do well for the rest of us," Ron pointed out. "Sides, it's only one class, right?"

"Double class, but yeah. It's good. I'm enjoying it."

"Good," Harry said softly as he started in on the piece of steak he had pulled from the plate in front of him. "We have Hagrid this afternoon."

"Moder at geet n' ngerous ting hees got planned fer thoose year..." Ron mumbled through his food.

Hermione glared at him, but, as usual, Harry caught his words anyway. "Hard to say with Hagrid, isn't it? At least the Blast-Ended Skrewts are gone, right?"

"Those were the worst!" Hermione agreed vehemently. "Mind you, I doubt Norbert would have been a whole lot better, right?"

"You know what I'm really looking forward to, though?" Harry asked the others.

"What?"

"Hagrid's class... without Malfoy there to foul it up!"

Once they had finished with their lunches and Hermione had stuffed her parchment back into her bag, the three started their trek down towards the cabin at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They were a little early, but figured it would give them a chance to catch up with Hagrid.

Unfortunately, Hagrid was no where to be found when they got there. However, in the pumpkin patch behind his house they did find Rozan, who looked up to them as they arrived.

_Taking a class from Hagrid, are you?_

"That's the plan," Harry said with a grin. It had been a while since he had spoken to the time wolf, and he felt the effects on his mind almost at once as it started to calm down. He wasn't sure what it was about the creature that helped, but he knew it did.

_You'll be learning some about my kin, then._

"Wicked," Harry said with a grin to the others. They just looked at him, obviously confused. "Er... Rozan just said that we will be learning some about time wolves in class this year." _You didn't talk to them, too?_

_If I spoke to you and Hermione, then Ron would know that I have seen Hermione before, and from your thoughts, I understand that he has been kept unaware of that situation. I thought that you wanted it to appear that we had not met before._

_Thanks, Rozan._ "So, where is Hagrid, anyway?"

_He is in the forest with his half brother. Apparently, he has calmed down a lot over the summer, as he no longer attacks Hagrid each time he approaches._

"Harry?" Ron called to him, breaking his attention to the time wolf.

"Yeah?"

"Are you talking to that?"

_He was indeed, Ronald Weasley._

"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed in surprise, covering his ears as though that could keep the sound out. He lowered his hands quickly, and looked back to Rozan. "That was you?"

_Indeed. I am speaking to all three of you now, and I understand from Harry that you are all his friends._

"You know Harry?" Ron asked, surprised.

_I watched over him for some time over the summer while he was in the elven village. As such, I knew more _of_ him than him himself. I was simply privy to some of his thoughts, which is why I know that you are Ronald Weasley, and you are Hermione Granger._

Rozan looked away from the three of them towards the castle, and then back to the woods. "What's going on, Rozan?" Harry asked.

_The other students are on their way, so I just told Hagrid as such. He should be arriving at the same time as them._

"You are a beautiful animal, Rozan," Hermione said softly.

_You may touch my fur, if you wish, Hermione._ The fact that neither Harry nor Ron responded told her that this thought was directed only to her. She stepped forward hesitantly and placed a nervous hand on the top of Rozan's head, between his ears.

"He's really soft, too," she said, looking back to the others before kneeling before Rozan to look closer at him. "Gentle too, right?"

_Unless I am in danger, yes._

"'Ata girl, 'Ermione!" Hagrid's booming voice called through the thicket just before the sound of thrashing trees could be heard. Hermione looked up to see him emerging from the woods, and heard students approaching from behind. "There ain't many e'd let touch 'im, at's fer sure. Means he trusts ya with sumthin he 'olds dear."

"With something he holds dear?" Hermione repeated, looking back to Rozan.

_I did look after Harry for some of the summer._

Hermione's face turned red as she heard that thought in her mind and she realized just what the time wolf meant. He could sense her feelings for Harry, and he thought they would be good together. Although it was a comforting thought, it still was a bit embarrassing to be given permission by a time wolf.

"Alright, gather round e'eryone, gather round!" Hagrid called to the small crowd of students. Hermione stepped away from Rozan until she was next to Harry and Ron again, and found that there were about a dozen others, including - to her surprise - Lavender and Pavarti. After the way they had gone on about Hagrid in the past, she didn't expect to see them again in the elective class. "You've all seen Rozan, right?"

"He's got beautiful fur..." "He's a proud animal, isn't he?" "Is he really a time wolf?"

_Please do not yell._ The voice in all the students' minds caught them off guard, and silence fell instantly, save for Hagrid's chuckling.

"Well, I wuz gonna tell ya'll that time wolves speak through the mind, but guess 'e beat me to it, eh?" He chuckled again before looking back to the students. "'Oo can tell me sumthin bout time wolves?"

"They can predict imminent events of the future," Harry said without thinking about it.

"Very good, 'Arry, very good. Ten points ta Gryffindor! Anyone else? Yes, 'Ermione?"

"There are almost no time wolves left in the world, and those that are are said to live in the deepest regions of the oldest forests. Most dislike human contact after so many years of being abused. Their fur can be used in several potions, and their whiskers can be used in making wands."

Hagrid looked a little taken aback at the stream of information that Hermione gave, but then he started to chuckle again. "I should'a known, I really should'a. Good job, 'Ermione! Twenty five points ta Gryffindor. Anyone else?"

"Is it true that they live until killed? That they don't age passed a certain point, and then could live forever?" This question came from a Ravenclaw that Harry didn't recognize.

"Well, Gerry, why don'tcha ask 'im yerself?"

The question caught the boy offguard, and he stepped back nervously, but then looked to the time wolf with a determined glance. "Is it true?"

_It is indeed._

"Then how old are you?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

_Time has no meaning to me anymore, Hermione,_ Rozan replied after a moment.

"Right," Hagrid said after a moment or two longer of the class talking either about or to Rozan. "We'll be comin back ta Rozan later on. Fer now, I wants ya all ta come round front, and we'll talk bout what we're lookin at this year."

"So what else are we looking at, Hagrid?" Hermione asked quietly as the three struggled to keep stride with their massive teacher. "Not anything like dragons, is it?"

"Er... no, 'Ermione. Not fer lack a tryin, though. Be great ta have dragons back 'ere again, don'tcha think, 'Arry?" Hagrid asked, looking down to Harry.

For his part, Harry could only remember with the horror he had felt trying to steal an egg from a Hungarian Ridgeback, and decided to keep quiet on the issue. "I think we'll be looking at a few rare magical creatures this year, right Hagrid?"

"Right ya're, 'Arry," Hagrid replied, beaming to him as the other students joined them. "Thanks ta yer new Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, we've gotta couple a things that I've never even 'eard of before, let alone thought existed." Seeing the horrified glances from the students, he went on quickly. "Oh, don't worry bout nuthin, they ain't dangerous or anythin. Just unusual... but we're starting with a few smaller stuff first. Any guesses?"

"He didn't bring... wood fairies, did he?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Is it bad if he did?" Ron muttered.

"Well not really. They're just really rare creatures, but smart as anything else. The few references I found to them said they were almost human more than animal."

"Fairies are right smart creatures, 'Ermione, that book wasn't lyin to ya. And he did manage ta convince a couple ta come. We ain't studyin 'em, so much as talkin to 'em, though. Don't wanna insult 'em. It'd be like going into the woods and askin Bane ta let us study 'im."

The few students who had heard rumours about Firenze - one of the two Divination professors - or those that knew first hand (mainly Harry, Ron, and Hermione), understood at once. The others simply knew that it was not a smart thing.

"'Erefore, we ain't talkin to em until we've had a chance ta talk bout 'em first, ta make sure ya'll understand. Before that, though, we're lookin at a couple a spirits first - elemental spirits, like heliopaths and sorenaitans."

"Heliopaths, Hagrid?" Hermione repeated. "They don't really exist, do they?"

"They certain do, 'Ermione!" Hagrid replied happily. "And we've gotta couple in a special spot in the woods until its time ta study em."

Hermione turned to Ron and shrugged. "Remind me - once we've seen them, anyway - to apologize to Luna."

"Why?" Ron asked in surprise. Hermione just shook her head and went back to paying attention.

"First, though, we're actually gonna learn a bit about elves," Hagrid announced. "Figurin that you've gotta deal with one as a teacher, ya might as well know sumthin bout 'em," he pointed out.

"Elves are classified as Magical Creatures?" Harry wasn't sure who asked, but he didn't really have a chance to look around before the near-familiar flash of green announced Talisien's arrival.

"Indeed, according to your Ministry of Magic, elves are magical creatures. A fact that I won't deny," Talisien explained with a brief nod to Hagrid. "Your Professor has asked me to come and speak with you about the elves - I guess he thought I might know something about my own people."

"Doesn't it upset you that you are considered a creature by our Ministry?" Hermione asked.

Talisien simply shook his head. "I learned a long time ago not to let things that I had no control over bother me. If they were to take a closer look at wizards and witches, though, they would find that you aren't entirely human, so I doubt you'll be hearing any change anytime soon."

"Not human?" Ernie Macmillan asked. Harry hadn't noticed the Hufflepuff chaser there at all, so his voice came as a bit of a surprise.

"Now is not really the time to get into a debate about this," Talisien replied, brushing the question aside. "But you call non-magical folk muggles, right? That says that you know there is a difference. If you want to talk to me about it sometime, feel free to stop by my office any morning or evening. I'll find you there." He paused for a minute before going on. "Now then, besides our brilliant Miss Granger, who else can tell me something about the elves?"

Hermione blushed a little at the comment and looked away. Harry raised his hand, but Talisien looked right by him to Lavender. "Don't elves live for hundreds of years?"

"Well done Miss Brown," he replied. "Elves can live for almost two thousand years at the longest life span. This sounds wonderful, I'm sure, especially given that the average lifespans of the students gathered her is around one hundred fifty to two hundred years old - another one of the facts that points to being beyond human, incidentally."

"How old are you then, sir?" Hermione asked directly.

Talisien looked to her for a moment. This fact was only really obvious by the fact that the brown specks of light that were showing through the shadows of his hood were directed towards her. "I will not answer that, Miss Granger. I believe that information could aide you in your quest to discover my last name. Nice try, though." He then looked up. "Anything else that you think should be mentioned about elves being different?"

Harry's hand was still up, and again, Talisien ignored it, just as he ignored Hermione's hand when it went up. He did look to Ron when his rose into the air. "Don't you usually live in forests?"

"Very good, Mr. Weasley."

"You have tremendous healing powers, too," Hermione said finally, not being able to hold in her answer any longer. "Most elves can heal a serious wound in a matter of days, if not hours, even when the same wound on a human would probably leave them dead."

"Close, Miss Granger. While our healing powers are greater, not everything can be healed in an instant." He brought one of his hands into the folds of his cloak, though no one could really tell why. When he brought it out again, he turned back to Hagrid. "I believe that is class, Hagrid."

-----------------------  
Until the sun sets upon a broken world,  
**The Shadows**


	9. Quidditch Tryouts

Chapter Nine: Quidditch Tryouts 

When the first Friday of term rolled around, Harry wasn't sure if he was happy or not. The week did seem to go by rather quickly, but he was already falling behind in his homework. The only two classes he seemed to be caught up for were Defense Against the Dark Arts - where Talisien hadn't even asked for their last homework assignment yet - and Care of Magical Creatures - where Hagrid didn't seem to ever assign homework.

He kept his mouth shut after the evening meal was over, though, as he made his way back to the common room with Ron and Hermione. He had something he had to do that evening, having spoken to Professor McGonagall earlier in the day, but he knew that if Hermione realized that his homework wasn't done then she would nag him to do it until he finally gave in.

As he stepped into the common room, his eyes sought out Ginny instantly, who was sitting next to the fire talking with a few other fifth year students - he was surprised that Dean wasn't with her. Then again, he hadn't seen the two of them together yet, so maybe it really didn't work out over the summer after all. He kept looking and found Andrew Sloper and Jack Kirke playing a game of Wizarding Chess.

"Hey Ron," Harry said softly as he stopped. Hermione went passed them and sat at the corner table, where she had taken to leaving most of her textbooks. Everyone knew it was her table, and no one else would go near it while she was working except Harry. When Ron turned, he grinned. "It's time."

Ron grinned back and turned around. "Listen all you midgets!" he shouted, bringing all sound in the common room grinding to a halt. "Right, thought ya might hear me if I started with an insult. I need Sloper, Kirke, and my sister over by the couch by the window, now!"

Ginny leapt up right away when she saw Harry moving towards the window as well, and Sloper and Kirke simply left their game midway and joined them, plopping down on the couch. Harry sat in one of the larger chairs, while Ron paced in front of the four of them. Harry spoke before he had a chance to. "We figured it was time to talk a bit about Quidditch," he explained.

"You're letting us back on the team, even though we were horrible last year?" Kirke asked in surprise, looking from Sloper to Harry to Ron, then back again.

"You've got potential, you just need the training," Harry pointed out. "Don't worry. Besides, we have to find two chasers still for the year without Alicia or Katie - we don't really want to have to find two new beaters, too."

"Right, well, as you know, with Alicia gone, we are down not only an excellent chaser, but also our captain. We need a new one for the year," Ron explained once he finally stopped pacing and turned to them. "I think Harry would be the best for the job."

"What?" Harry asked at once, getting to his feet quickly. "It's your dream, Ron. I'm not taking that from you!"

"Like I told you before, mate, my dreams have changed," Ron replied with a grin. "Besides, consider it your reward."

Harry frowned. "For what?"

Ginny sat forward then. "For belting Malfoy last year. You shouldn't have been suspended from the team, Harry, you should have gotten a medal! Fred and George are still talking about how to reward you for your actions - even though George said that you got the best hits in on him. Right in the jaw with the snitch and everything!"

"Here, here!" Sloper cheered.

Harry turned to the two beaters. "You two alright with me being the captain?"

"You've never lost a game you've played through, Harry," Kirke pointed out.

"But what about..."

"The Dementors caused that, not you," Ron interrupted him as though he knew what he was about to say. "And that means you didn't play it through, either. Look mate, take the job before we force it down your throat anyway."

"You might as well, Harry," Ginny added. "Besides, we already told McGonagall that you were the captain this year. So I guess... in a way anyway, we already have forced it down your throat..."

"You what?"

"Can we argue about this later, captain?"

Harry sighed and sunk back into the cushioned red chair that had the Gryffindor crest emblazed on the back. It was not something he really needed on top of everything else, but it was rather heartening to be supported completely for once without anyone thinking he was a nutter or a legend. After a minute passed, he nodded. "Right then. You know I'm going to push hard?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way, mate."

"Good. First thing's first. I booked the pitch tomorrow morning and afternoon. The morning is meant as our tryouts to find two new chasers. The afternoon will be a planning session for future practices, and we should be able to get our hands on a schedule of games, too."

"You work fast," Ginny said with a glint in her eye. "This should be a good year. It'll be nice to fly with you."

"Right, well, time to start being a prat, then," Harry said, standing. "All of you, off to bed. We've got a lot to do tomorrow, and I'm not going to stand for anyone sleeping in, understand?"

"Yes, master. We will obey, master," Ron said as he backed away, bowing with each step.

"Don't push your luck, Ron." Harry waited until the others stood and started making their way to the dorms as well before standing up himself. "Alright, listen up everyone! Tomorrow morning we are holding Quidditch tryouts for two new chasers! It starts right after breakfast, so anyone interested should be getting to bed shortly." To his delight and surprise, he found a few people got up right away and started to their dorms.

With a sigh once everyone stopped moving, Harry walked over to Hermione's desk and sat down at the other chair. She barely registered the fact that he was even there as he pulled out his potions textbook and a roll of parchment. As he got his quill out, she pushed her ink pot over so it was between the two of them without a word, and flipped the page in her book.

He got two lines into his essay before she said anything. "Congratulations, Harry," she said softly. "You must be pretty happy, right?"

He looked up, surprised, and found her looking at him. He shrugged. "Sort of. I don't really have time to be captain on top of running the DA - which I still haven't started again yet - going to classes, and keeping up with homework. I think I'm swamped already."

She looked thoughtful for a moment before reaching into her bag and pulling out a large piece of folded up parchment. Unfolding it, she spread it out on the table before her. "I could make up a study schedule for you a little early, if you wanted. I'll even leave most weeknights free for training or the DA..."

Harry, who was very pleased that she wasn't tearing into him for not getting to schoolwork right away, could only smile to her as an answer before she started scribbling down his information next to her own on her large schedule. It made sense that she knew each of his classes, since she shared them all with him. She only had an extra class. He noticed right away that his sleeping in on Tuesdays and Thursdays was coming to an early, tragic end, but said nothing until she finished. "Thanks, 'Mione. You're a lifesaver."

She nodded with a soft smile to him and then went back to her text. He looked back to his potions essay with an inward groan and started writing again. By the time he had finished half the essay, he noticed that they were the only ones left in the common room, and he yawned as he looked up.

"What time is it?" he asked softly.

"Almost two," Hermione admitted. "We should have been in bed hours ago, but I didn't want to stop you from doing that essay." Harry groaned as he started to collect his things that had spread out over half the table. Hermione stopped him with a touch on his arm, and he turned. "You need your sleep tonight for the tryouts tomorrow. You can just leave it here. I'll even check your essay later for you, if you want."

"Thanks," Harry whispered. The two stood there for a moment until Harry yawned again. He then turned and pulled Hermione into a brief hug before starting up the steps to his dorm room. "Night, 'Mione."

"Good night, Harry," she whispered after him once he was gone, shocked by his sudden display of affection.  
----------------------  
When Harry arrived on the Quidditch pitch before breakfast the next morning, he was the only one there, as he had expected. He changed into his robes quickly enough, and noticed that someone had managed to sew the word Captain above his position on his sleeve. He wasn't sure who or when, but it was well done.

He walked out onto the field carrying his Firebolt in one hand and mounted it, taking off in an instant. The moment his feet left the ground was sensational. It was one thing to fly for practice around Grimmauld place in a secluded field. It was quite another to be flying over the full sized Quidditch pitch at full speed, rolling and diving through the air.

As he shot between each of the hoops at either end of the pitch, he noticed vaguely that there were two people sitting in the stands watching, and as he shot across the field and higher into the air, he recognized one of them as Hermione, and the other one as Kailyn. He hadn't thought that either would really show up for tryouts - Hermione always watched the games, but never much more than that. He doubted that Kailyn even knew the first thing about the game, which meant it would be interesting listening to Hermione explain it to her. Too bad he had to lead the team...

He swerved to the side on instinct just as a bludger streaked passed him in the sky. Twirling around again as it shot passed a second time, he saw a crowd of people on the ground, four of whom were wearing Gryffindor Quidditch colours.

He leaned forward on his broom and took off into a dive at dizzying speeds. As he rocketed downwards, he reached out and grabbed at the bludger and held it tightly as he pulled out of the dive and landed neatly on the ground.

He was met with tumultuous applause, at which point he simply thrust the bludger into Ron's chest and waited for him to grab it before he made any other remark. "We voted on it, and figured it the best way to get your attention, Captain," Ron said solemnly.

"Ron, if you start calling me Captain all the time, I'm going to hex you into Snape's NEWT class," Harry warned with a smile. He then turned to the crowd of Gryffindor students who had turned out for the tryouts. "Ginny," he called to her.

She came up right beside him instantly. "Yes, Harry?"

"You know more about picking a good chaser than I do," he admitted right away. "And since they have to work in tandem with you anyway, I'm leaving the initial exercises to you. Once you've narrowed the field some, we'll all take part and see what we can do to figure out the best."

He had to admit as he sat back against the benches for the teams and watched Ginny take flight with a crowd of followers that it felt odd not to be taking part. It also was strange to be giving the orders that he had always associated with Wood. His forth year Quidditch was cancelled, and his fifth year he was banned, so he was looking forward to this year without question.

He watched for about five minutes, but seeing as he couldn't hear what she was saying, he gave up and turned to the others. Ron was watching the chasers still, but the two beaters were eyeing the box of balls that still held the Snitch and both Bludgers.

"What happened to Katie, anyway?" he asked Ron when he looked over to him.

"I heard that she actually was called out of school a year early for an opening job in the Ministry. I guess her marks were very good."

"I wonder if she's still doing any Quidditch..."

"Be a shame if she wasn't, right? She was good..."

"Yeah, she was. But we'll be fine without her." He then turned away from Ron, who was looking up to the skies again. "Sloper, Kirke," Harry called. Both came over to him right away. "I'll be straight with you. From what I saw last year, you both need work. You admitted that yourselves, right?" he reminded them. Once they nodded, so did he. "Good. Then here's what I want you to do. Every spare chance you have, I want you two to be passing a rock back and forth using your quills or a couple of sticks."

"A rock?" Sloper asked. "But that's a lot heavier than a bludger, and it's not enchanted, either."

"You'll be used to hitting a moving target," Harry pointed out. "Trust me on this one. It'll work. I guess you two never saw Fred and George passing things back and forth in class. Mind you, they usually used dung bombs or exploding snaps, but I wouldn't recommend it."

It was almost noon when Ginny touched down on the ground again, followed by a mere half dozen other students. Harry was surprised to see Seamus and Lavender both in the batch, but not as surprised to see Colin Creevy and his brother Denis. The two had talked about Quidditch last year almost as much as Ron. He was just glad that Colin didn't have his camera with him still.

"Alright Harry, we need a keeper and..." she trailed off, looking to the two beaters who were already following Harry's directions. "I think one bludger for now, but both beaters should be up there."

"Sure," Harry said. "I'll take a beater stick, too," he added once he had motioned to Sloper and Kirke to take to the skies. He then looked to Ron. "Your time to be king again, Ron."

Ron didn't reply to the comment, but he did grin slightly as he got on his Cleansweep and took to the air. As soon as he was up he started circling the hoops slowly, keeping his eyes open. He knew there were at least four Quaffles in the air at this stage as Ginny drove the hopefuls as hard as she could, constantly keeping them passing to one another.

Once the bludger entered the mix, Ginny started calling out directions. Two chasers at a time would make a run from the halfway point with two Quaffles while the beaters tried to unseat them. Their goal was to score against Ron.

Ginny went first with Seamus and Lavender. Harry had to swoop down just before the goal posts to catch Seamus as he fell after taking a bludger to the chest, but Lavender ended up shooting twice. Ron managed to stop them both, but that didn't mean she was out of the running.

Harry didn't see the next run as he took Seamus to Madame Hooch, who he found watching from the central box. She promised to take him to the hospital wing, and then he hopped on his broom to return. He arrived as Colin and Denis started their run.

He found himself wishing for another bludger as they approached. Ginny dodged each shot expertly, as he knew she would when there was nothing else to focus on, but Colin and Denis both seemed to do well as well. They passed around Ginny as they approached a scoring position and both shot at opposite hoops.

Ron blocked one with his hands and managed to knock the other aside with the butt of his broom. With a nod towards Harry, those in the air started towards the ground again.

"As much as I don't really want to take Colin if he's still got that camera around, I think it would be best to take him and his brother," Ginny told Harry when she took him to the side. "They worked well together all day, and had no problem adding me to the routine that they obviously have worked on. I'll admit that I think Lavender actually flew better than them, and she didn't even seem unnerved by the bludger that hit her teammate, but I don't think it would work to split them up."

"So, Colin and Denis, then?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yeah. But like I said, if Colin still has that camera, I think I'd take my chances with training Seamus up to scratch and taking him and Lavender."

"The other two were that bad?"

"They missed the Quaffles twice."

Harry grimaced, and then looked to Ron as he came over to them. "Whatta ya say, guys?" he asked, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Do we have a team yet?"

Harry didn't reply right away. Instead, he looked over to the three remaining hopefuls. "Hey Colin? You still got that camera hanging around?"

"It's in my room," Colin admitted. "But I don't bring it with me most of the time." He looked back to Denis for a moment before returning Harry's gaze. "No offense, Harry, but after last year when I got to know you, I figured out that you aren't some superhero. You're just a normal guy like us, only with much bigger problems than can be considered healthy."

"I'm going to ignore that," Harry said with a grin. "Because I can't decide if that's an insult or a compliment." He then looked to Lavender. "Sorry, Lavender, but we are going with the Creevy brothers this time."

She nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before replying. "That's alright, Harry. I'll try again next year. Besides, I'm not the biggest Quidditch fan in the world, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. I always thought flying above the field would be fun."

"You flew like that as a natural?" Ginny asked in surprise.

Lavender shook her head. "No, I've flown before quite a bit. Just never like that."

"Harry, can I have a word with you?" Ginny asked, pulling him aside without waiting for an answer. "If she can fly like that for her first competitive time, then we need her on the team. Can we have a reserve on the team?"

Harry looked to Ron, who nodded. "Each team is allowed one reserve," Ron admitted. "Most teams don't bother, though, cause they can't find enough people with the talent."

"Right," Harry said, turning back to the three hopefuls. "All three of you are on the team. One of you is our reserve, though."

The three exchanged a quick glance before reverting their gaze back to Harry. He noticed at that time - for whatever reason - that all three of them had blue eyes.

"Which one of us?" Lavender asked after a moment of silence.

"That will depend on the match and the efforts of previous practices," Harry replied. "Or, whether or not someone is injured," he added. "As that is the official role of the reserve - to fill the empty position in case of accident."

"Oi, Harry," Ron called suddenly. Harry looked over to him, and found him pointing to the castle. "Looks like we missed lunch!"

Harry looked at his watch and found it was almost two thirty. "Oh..." he started, searching for the right words. "Blood hell!" he cursed. "I skipped breakfast, too..."

"Might as well call it a day now, then," Ginny suggested.

"Sure. Sloper, Kirke... you two keep practicing, got it?"

"We won't stop except for classes, Harry," Kirke said with a nod.

"Despite classes is more like it," Sloper corrected him.

Harry waited until the others had started up to the castle before moving himself. Rather than return right away, though, he mounted his Firebolt again and shot up to the stands to land before Hermione and Kailyn, who were in the middle of a conversation that stopped when he landed.

"Are you hungry, Harry?" Hermione asked him as she reached into her robes. "Because I saved some lunch when I realized you were going to work right through it. I think you skipped breakfast this morning too, unless I just missed you."

"Thanks 'Mione," Harry said gratefully, taking the sandwich she offered and cramming it into his mouth. "Have I told you lately that you're a lifesaver?"

She smiled back to him. "Almost every day this term..." She said softly, looking down to the field. "I take it you're done for today, then?"

"Yup," Harry replied. "Colin and Denis Creevy, as well as Lavender made the team. One will be our reserve," he explained.

"Excellent," Hermione said, standing quickly and shouldering her bag again. "I've got to finish my reading for Arithmancy still."

"I thought you were easily caught up..."

"I am," she replied casually as she started down the stairs. "But I need to make sure I know what's happening for next class!" With that, she vanished down the darkened shaft that held the staircase.

He motioned towards the staircase, and Kailyn got up and walked with him. "So, what do you think of your first view of Quidditch, Kailyn?" he asked once they were on the grass walking up to the castle again.

"Looks neat," she admitted. "A bit dangerous, though. I thought for sure that dive you did at the beginning to catch the blogger..."

"Bludger," Harry corrected.

"Right, the bludger, I thought you were going to plow right into the ground. Hermione didn't seem too worried, though. She said you did that sort of thing all the time," she said, looking up to him.

Harry chuckled to himself. "I suppose I do take some stupid risks in Quidditch, but it's all a part of the game. As I was told when I started, no one's died in years."

They walked in silence for a few minutes until the first year looked up to him again. "So, when can I meet your mate, Harry?"

If he hadn't just done it, he would have sworn that it was impossible to choke on air. He stopped and coughed for a moment until he was under control again, and then looked to Kailyn. "What?"

"Your mate," she repeated. "I mean, I can see your bracelet clearly enough, even when you're trying to hide it, it stands out to the observant eye. I don't see the rings, though, but I guess I assumed that you were waiting to share those until you were officially joined, right? Maybe mate isn't the right word..." She smiled to him and started walking again. "So, when can I meet her?"

Harry sighed. "It's a little complicated, Kailyn," he explained. "I'm not sure if you could understand, really."

"You haven't told her?"

"It's not that," Harry said at once. "She knows how I feel, and I know how she feels. I just... can't. Not right now. I mean, just by being friends with me, people wind up in all sorts of trouble."

"I heard some about that from other students. A fifth year said you killed a basilisk in some hidden chamber. Is that really true?" Harry nodded, but didn't say anything. "Does she understand?"

"She's in trouble anyway just by being my friend," Harry replied easily. "Getting any closer would mean even more trouble. She could be killed, and then what would I do? It would be my fault for letting her get too close, right?"

Kailyn stopped him and took hold of his left wrist. When she had it held before her, she placed a wooden box in his hands. "If you think she can't understand that, then maybe you are right, and you shouldn't try anything. But if she understands, and still wants to be with you, then who are you to argue?"

"What is this?" Harry asked, examining the box.

"Inside is another bracelet. One that you can give to Hermione. She doesn't have one to match yours right now, does she?" She continued without giving him a chance to reply. "This one has elven engravings on the inside. Some of them will help keep her safe, so that should put your mind at least a little more at ease."

Harry looked away from the box and into her green eyes briefly before pocketing it. "And just how did you know it was Hermione?"

"I didn't, I just guessed. But you just told me," Kailyn pointed out. "I've got to get going - I was supposed to meet a few people in the library just after lunch, and now I'm so late it isn't even funny..." She was gone before he could even reply.

-----------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**  
The Shadows**


	10. Exposed

Chapter Ten: Exposed 

There was nothing he could do but smile as he looked around at the small group that was left. Talisien had finally split the Defense Against the Dark Arts class into groups - he ended up with four different ones in the end - and Harry was left sitting with a select group of students.

He was more than pleased that Malfoy was two classes behind them.

Draco Malfoy aside, Harry couldn't have been more impressed. Right beside him, where he knew she would stay, was Hermione. He knew that she would make it to the advanced class. Ron was beside them, and Luna was sitting right next to him. As his eyes roamed the room carefully, he knew everyone there.

Neville made the class, as well as Dean, Lavender, Pavarti, Colin and Denis Creevy, and Ginny from Gryffindor. Beyond them sat Pavarti's twin Padma with Cho Chang from Ravenclaw, and then Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones from Hufflepuff.

His grin broadened as Hermione poked him in the ribs. "Harry... notice anything as you look around you?"

"Yeah," he said back, looking to everyone still. "Everyone in this class was in the DA last year."

"Goes to show what a good teacher they had," she whispered.

It was that exact moment that the flash of green appeared before them and Talisien took a seat on the ground again, folding his hands together in front of him. Everything else remained hidden in his cloak, as always.

"I agree, Miss Granger. I believe that everyone here had an excellent teacher last year, which shows why I have selected each of you to join this advanced class." Everyone gathered looked quickly to Harry and then back to the teacher - Neville actually said 'Thanks Harry,' first - to hear what else he had to say. "Since you all have such an excellent base, this year I intend to let you study and practice things of your own choosing. Have any of you figured out why I wanted you to select three books that you thought would be best?"

No one was surprised to see Hermione's hand in the air, but most were startled when Neville also raised his hand. Talisien nodded to him first. "Because you wanted us to pick books that would match our interests in the subject?"

"Very good, Mr. Longbottom." Talisien then looked back to Hermione. "Anything else?"

"Well, not really an answer to your question, but I wanted to know if there was any chance we could see some of the books that the elves have written on the subject of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Talisien stood slowly and turned his back on the group of students. "Defense against elven dark arts - or what is more commonly called majiks - would be of no use to any of you. All of our arts deal with the elven way of doing magics, and you would gain nothing but useless knowledge from them." There was a pause, and then Talisien appeared behind Hermione. "However, if you wish to read them anyway, I'm sure it can be arranged later."

"Thank you sir."

Once Talisien was at the front again, he motioned for everyone to stand. "Now, as we are a smaller group than the others, I think it would be best to rid ourselves of the formalities. Any objections?"

"You'd be calling us by our first names?"

"Yes, Pavarti, that I would. I believe in your case it makes sense especially, given that if I call Miss Patil I would receive two answers all year." He then clapped his hands together and nodded. "Right, everyone pull out the books that you have. Who here knows what they're going to be studying this year?"

"Before we get to that, sir, can I ask you a question?"

"You may always ask a question, Hermione. I will not always guarantee an answer, though."

Hermione stepped passed Harry so she was a little closer to the Professor, and Harry could see she had a large smile on her face. "May I see the Quintali, please? You still carry it, right?"

"What's the Quintali?" Neville asked almost right away.

"I know that quintons are what remain after fairies fade away," Luna pointed out helpfully. "But I've never heard of the Quintali."

"Few who still live have," Talisien admitted slowly. He then brought his hands up to the edge of the hood of his cloak and, with a deep breath, pulled the hood back.

A collective gasp went up from the group of students as they saw the face of their teacher for the first time. Aside from his ruffled brown hair and equally brown eyes, he had the telltale pointed ears of the elves and the tight, almost withdrawn looking face. That wasn't what really stood out in their minds, though.

It was the three long, deep scars on his left cheek.

Talisien brought his hand up to the side of his face and ran his fingers along the scars found there. "These are from a battle long ago, from before this school was even founded. These scars are a constant reminder to me. I received them in my first battle against the Dark Arts. My father did not survive that battle." There was a silence for a long time as no one dared to even breathe, and then he continued. "Yes, Hermione, I still carry the Quintali. I will not, however, show it to you at this time."

"What spell caused those wounds, sir?"

Talisien turned to look to Ginny for a moment before turning back to Harry suddenly. "What spell caused your scar, Harry?"

As much as he hated being the centre of attention thanks to his lightning bolt scar, he knew this was one time when he couldn't actually object. "The Avada Kedavra curse." He lifted his bangs to show the scar before going on. "But I thought I was the only one to have ever survived it."

"You are, Harry." Talisien then turned to Neville. "What curse do you fear the most, Neville?"

"The Cruxiatis Curse, sir," Neville answered nervously.

"Cho, what colour is the Cruxiatis Curse?"

"I didn't think it had a colour, actually, sir."

"Harry?"

Harry's mind flashed with searing pain suddenly as he remembered being struck with the curse at the end of his fourth year. He remembered the pain vividly... but the colour of the curse? He thought even harder, and remembered casting it himself against Bellatrix Lestrange at the end of last year. Still... no colour.

"It has no colour."

"Good. Now, who can tell me how they would classify these curses?"

"Talisien, what does this have to do with your scars?" Hermione asked logically.

"Give it time, Hermione. How would you classify them?"

"They are two of the three Unforgivable Curses."

"Would anyone say that they are evil?"

There was a collective nod from the class, and then Susan Bones spoke up. "I don't think there is any spell that is more evil. Even Dementors pale next to those two curses."

"Ten points to Hufflepuff, then." Talisien then put the hood to his cloak back up and turned back to Ginny. "These scars were caused by a dark elf with a majikal hand. They rake from my face down to my hip."

"Then why were you asking about the two Unforgivables?"

"This is a class, isn't it?"

"Sir, didn't you mention in our Care of Magical Creatures class that elves have incredible healing powers? That most injuries regenerated within hours, if not faster?" Lavender pointed out.

"If I had been human, then I would have died." He then paused as he looked up suddenly, as though listening for something. "It appears that classes are over for this afternoon. Tomorrow, I want you all here right after lunch. The rest of your afternoon after class is over will be free." He vanished instantly, only to reappear next to the large double doors. "Oh, and one hundred fifty points to Gryffindor courtesy of Miss Hermione Granger. I just ask you not to tell anyone else my last name yet. Others may also be inspired to do some readings on the history of elves."

... 

"C'mon, Hermione, lighten up!" Ron said in a loud voice as he lifted his butterbeer mug into the air to another toast to her. The Gryffindor Common Room was full of students, all either enjoying snacks, laughing at practical jokes courtesy of a certain joke shop, or sitting around laughing with friends. "This party's for you, after all!"

"I know that, Ron!" Hermione said hotly. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that it is almost midnight and we all have classes tomorrow! And we are both prefects! We have to wrap this up before McGonagall comes!"

"But Hermione, you're bound to get into the next edition of Hogwarts: A History at this rate! You earned the most amount of house points at once ever awarded!"

"Harry'll be in it before I am, Ron," Hermione said, looking away from him. "Speaking of which, where is he, anyway?"

"I think he said something about finishing a Potion's essay so he could sleep in tomorrow," Ron said with a shrug. "And I couldn't even talk him out of it."

_He could have at least said good night... _Hermione sighed as she went over to the staircase leading up to the girls' dormitories. "Well, Ron, this party's on your head, now! I'm going to bed!"

"'Mione!" She froze at the loud whisper close to her, and then she spun around to find Harry poking his head around the staircase, as though hoping not to be seen. "Good job today. Sleep well, alright?"

Hermione smiled broadly and would have hugged him if she thought she could without drawing attention to him. As it was, she didn't want anyone else to notice and interrupt his homework time. "Thanks. You too."

"I'll try." With that, he pulled back and she heard - despite the noise in the common room - him sneaking back up stairs. With a smile on her own face at the fact that he cared enough to say goodnight first, she turned and went up on her own.

... 

On the other side of Gryffindor Tower, Harry lay awake in his four poster bed, his essay lying forgotten on his desk. He just wanted the party downstairs to end... he needed to get out, get out of the common room, get out of the tower. He needed to clear his head, and it wasn't going to happen the way things were right now.

He had the bracelet that Kailyn had given him in his hands, turning it over and over again. The gold glinted in the faint moonlight, and he brought it a little closer to inspect the runes on the inside. As he expected, he couldn't make any of them out.

Harry brought his hands down to his side and rolled over very quickly to fake sleep when the door to the room he shared opened suddenly. He heard the laughter of Neville, Dean, and Seamus, and then heard Ron snapping at them to keep it down because Harry was asleep. He'd have to remember to thank Ron later for that... somehow.

It seemed to take forever for the four other boys to fall asleep. By the time Ron's familiar snores had started, he was sure it was almost one in the morning. Slowly, so as not to attract any attention of the light sleeper Dean, he sat up on his bed and swung his feet down.

Carefully and quietly he pulled out an old piece of parchment and covered himself in his invisibility cloak. Opening the parchment up, he withdrew his wand as he put the bracelet in his pocket. He then tapped the parchment and muttered under his breath. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Lines of ink and little dots spread out from the centre of the parchment rapidly. It always amazed him to watch the ink come to life as it took hold of the 'bit of spare parchment.' As soon as it had stopped spreading, more words formed at the top of it. "The Marauder's Map."

With a grin, he stood up and slipped out of the room, keeping his eyes on the parchment to make sure no one else was around. When he slipped out the portrait hole, he stopped and looked more carefully at the map. Two little dots were in the Great Hall, moving very quickly back and forth across the large room. One was labelled 'Talisien,' and the other 'Kailyn.' He looked back to the Gryffindor Tower, and found that Kailyn was, in fact, not there, despite what he had assumed earlier.

Knowing full well the trouble he could get in for being caught - and knowing full well that if there was ever a teacher who would be able to see right through an invisibility cloak, it would have to be the Wanderer - he started to head for the Great Hall anyway. His curiousity was peaked, and there was no getting around it.

He started to slow down as he got a little closer. It was quite late, and it didn't make much sense for a first year to be up still. Kailyn should have been exhausted after the long party and the full day. His mind stopped working when he heard the sound of metal scrapping on metal, followed by a crash.

Abandoning all reason, he ran down the hall and stopped just before the Great Hall, ducking next to one of the open doors so he could peek in. He made sure his invisibility cloak was covering him completely, and then looked inside carefully.

It took him a moment to register the fact that Talisien had a longsword in hand and was attacking Kailyn with it. She met his charge with two shorter swords, and spun around for her own counter attack. As she started to swing inwards, Talisien vanished, only to appear behind her instead.

Again, Talisien attacked, and this time Kailyn rolled forward onto the ground and then flitted out of sight momentarily as she moved even further forward. She was on her feet in an instant and launched herself at the older elf with both swords ready.

She knocked aside his longsword with one of her shorter ones and brought her other blade in to attack the defenseless elf. As much as Harry wanted to cry out, he found his voice had left him as he watched.

He must have blinked, because somehow Talisien had a hold of both of Kailyn's swords with his own and spun them around quickly. With a swift kick, Kailyn was sent flying and crashed into one of the tables.

The Wanderer didn't stop to make sure she was alright, though. Instead, he turned his back on her and walked away. "Do not ever make that assumption, Kai," he heard Talisien say in a very soft voice. "When fighting anyone with skill, an opening is never just an opening."

"I know, I know," she grumbled as she pulled herself to her feet and steadied herself. "Again." She brought her swords to a ready position and attacked again. Talisien took several steps back as she attacked over and over again. The silver of the longsword was nothing but a blur as he managed to parry each attack in succession, and then struck hard at the hilt of one of her steel swords.

When the two separated, Kailyn was down to one short sword, and Talisien was standing over the other one, holding his blade ready. "You're mine, Oak," she whispered.

"In your dreams, Palada."

There was another flash of silver, and then Harry gasped as a splash of blood dripped to the floor. Kailyn's other sword fell to the ground with a clatter, and she clutched desperately at her injured shoulder with her other hand. A white light surrounded her hand moments later, and when she removed it, the flesh beneath her hand had stitched back together - though the clothing had not.

Talisien sheathed his sword in a fluent motion and picked up both her blades and offered them to her as he knelt before her. "You did well tonight. Just don't lose your head... you can't expect to be able to fight and not think about it."

"I know, don't worry. 'Keep a clear mind, and everything else will follow,' right?"

"Atta girl." Talisien then stood up as she took the blades back. Harry missed the motion where she sheathed the blades, but he assumed that the sheathes must be either invisible or hidden very well. He never would have known she had them otherwise. "Now, I suggest you run along back to your room. At least one student knows you are awake." He then turned and looked right in Harry's direction. "That is a very good cover, Harry, but you are breathing a little loud."

"Mischief managed," he whispered quickly, tapping the parchment again as he pulled his cloak off slowly. He gave a weak smile to Kailyn as she passed him, and she grinned back and took off down the hall, vanishing from sight almost instantly. He looked up as Talisien appeared next to him. "Sorry, sir, I wasn't meaning to..."

"Did you learn anything, Harry?"

Harry stopped and looked up to the taller elf in surprise. "You aren't mad that I'm out of bed and spying on you?"

"Should I be?" Talisien chuckled. "I will be, I suppose, if you didn't learn anything. I am your teacher, after all."

"Well, I learned that you can both do things with a sword that I could never have imagined," Harry admitted. "Mind you, few people talk about swords these days anyway."

"They certainly talk about one sword, though," Talisien pointed out. "Rumour has it that the ruby encrusted sword with Godric Gryffindor written across the blade was used by you to kill a Basilisk, after all." Harry didn't reply - somehow he knew it wasn't necessary. "You are the first full human in over five hundred years to see the Quintali, Harry."

"I... I am?" he asked in surprise.

"I wouldn't mention it to anyone, though," Talisien added. "Especially not Hermione. She might be a bit upset that she hasn't seen it herself. That, and I expect she would not be pleased with you being out of bed so late."

"Probably not," Harry said with a grin. He had been chewed out by Hermione before for sneaking around the castle, so he knew that was an understatement. He doubted she would find out this time, though. "How did you know it was me, by the way? You just said you heard me breathing..."

"Everyone breaths a little differently, Harry, and one who is trained properly can tell everyone apart in more ways than you could ever imagine." The tall elf then turned and looked back to the Great Hall for a moment before returning his gaze to Harry. "Let's walk and talk, Harry." As the two made their way down the corridors slowly towards Gryffindor Tower, the elf continued. "Did you know that I used to have a sister?"

"No..." Harry said slowly. "What happened to her?"

"What happened to your godfather, Harry?"

Harry fell silent at once. It was one of the first times he had thought about Sirius in quite some time - at least, the first time that he felt guilty about it for some time. "I got him killed."

"Then you know what happened to Karada, I suppose," Talisien said. There was a long silence as the two walked. "I left my village when I was very young... in human terms, it would be about at your age now, I believe. Anyway, after I left, she came after me, to ask me to come to her wedding. She was killed by a force that I eventually ended."

"That wasn't your fault, though," Harry pointed out. "You didn't make her leave the village to find you."

"And you didn't make Sirius leave Grimmauld Place to rescue you."

"Does the pain of guilt ever go away, Talisien?"

The elf sighed and stopped. "It hasn't yet, and it's been more years than most can count," he admitted. "But it does lessen a little with the passage of time. I wasn't at fault... but it still feels like it sometimes."

"I hear that."

Talisien started walking again and Harry had to hurry to catch up. "I met Fey a little while after that. I didn't really want to travel with her - my mission was a dangerous one, after all. Self imposed, but dangerous nonetheless. I didn't want to bring harm to anyone else. I just had to bring an end to the dark forces that I was chasing."

"Kailyn told me that Fey's known as the Fire Elf," Harry said. "So it sounds like she could have taken care of herself, right?"

"Indeed. But that didn't make it any easier. After a few years of travelling together, we were joined by four others. The six of us eventually brought down a Dark Lord of our own, Harry, but I almost made a fatal mistake several times."

"What?" Harry asked. "Dark Lord? What fatal mistake?"

"I almost let Fey go." Harry wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer that, so again he stayed silent. "She wanted to stay with me... actually, she stuck with me because she loved me. I almost missed that entirely, and then when I thought it could be true, I tried to push her away. I had a terrible burden on my shoulders, Harry. A burden you may be aware of yourself."

"I doubt you were the only one alive who could kill the Dark Lord."

Talisien chuckled for a moment. "You'd be surprised, actually. No, there wasn't a prophecy. But the Quintali chose me as its master, and only this blade could bring down the High Daemon." He looked down to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder. "I was the only one who could defeat him. Just as you are the only one who can defeat Voldemort, the new Dark Lord."

"So how was pushing Fey aside a near fatal mistake? You were protecting her, weren't you?"

"I was, yes..." Talisien said slowly. "But she would have been in more danger if I had managed to push her away. She would have fought alone, then, just to catch up with me, just to help me. She also managed to delay the High Daemon in my final attack, which let my strike land. Without her help, I would have died."

"Why are you telling me all this, sir?"

Talisien looked down to the younger student for a moment, and then back up again down the corridor ahead of them. "Kailyn told me an interesting story tonight, Harry. A story that sounded vaguely familiar to one that I, myself, lived at one point. A story about you, Harry Potter, and about one Hermione Granger. A story about the two of you and your friends."

"I won't lose her to him, Talisien," Harry said fiercely. "I will not let him take Hermione. Everyone I get close to dies because of him... I'm not making that mistake again." He then looked up to his professor again. "I will not put anyone else in danger for my own desires."

"What does she desire, Harry?"

"Why are you taking such an interest in a student's love life, anyway?"

"Why did you come to watch Kailyn and I practicing?"

"You're simply avoiding the question."

"So are you."

Harry threw up his hands in defeat and grumbled to himself as they continued to walk along the corridors. He was vaguely aware of the fact that the entrance to Gryffindor Tower was coming up quickly. "I was curious. I wanted to see what you two were doing."

"I will not ask how you knew we were there," Talisien said. "But if you would like, I could arrange for Kailyn to train you some with the sword. It might help you take your mind off things for a while."

"With everything else I'm doing, I doubt I could find the time. Besides, nothing can take my mind of some things..."

"You'd be amazed what can happen when you are threatened by a sword. Everything else seems far away for the few moments when you are fighting. And Kailyn and I found the time. You could do the same... just a little earlier. It would be good for both of you." He then stopped and motioned to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "This would be your stop for the night, Harry. In answer to your question... you remind me of someone I once was."

Harry didn't have a chance to reply before the Wanderer had vanished again.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	11. Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor

Chapter Eleven: Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor 

"Do ya reckon he could've come up with a worse birthday present for her?" Ron muttered to Harry as they left Defense Against the Dark Arts Friday afternoon an hour earlier than usual. "I mean, letting class out early would be most people's dream... but I bet Hermione's livid."

"She did stay behind to talk to Talisien," Harry replied, not really paying attention. He knew that the 19th was Hermione's birthday... but his mind wasn't really even on that - at least, not completely. He couldn't stop thinking about things he should have done different during the few practices that the Quidditch team had had thus far. The first game was that evening.

That in and of itself was enough to set Harry's nerves on end. McGonagall had refused to say why they were starting the season so early this year, save "For a very good reason, Potter." He saw the two beaters in the corridor ahead of them passing three rocks back and forth at a time, and was heartened a little by the fact that they seem to have improved beyond his wildest dream so quickly.

"So, think we're ready for tonight, Harry?"

"I have no idea," Harry said honestly. "But do you think there's any chance you can get Ginny, Colin, Denis, and Lavender to join Sloper, Kirke, and I in the common room? You too, of course."

"Yes, your majesty," Ron said with a flourishing bow before running down the corridor quickly so Harry couldn't say anything about the title. Harry glared after him anyway, and then turned to find Hermione coming out of the large classroom that the class had moved to.

"Find out what you wanted, 'Mione?" Harry asked as she joined him and they started walking down the hall together.

"He showed me the Quintali, Harry!" Hermione said with a large smile. "He even let me hold it... but apparently it had other ideas, as it decided to fly from my grip when I tried..."

"I guess some swords have minds of their own, too, right?"

Hermione nodded, and looked away from him, biting her lip as though trying to come to a decision. "Harry?" she said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

He turned to her, and found himself held in a very tight embrace. "Good luck tonight. I'll be cheering you on, okay?" She released him almost as quickly and then motioned down the hall. "Looks like your beaters are waiting. Take care, and don't do anything too stupid on the field, please?"

"I'll try, 'Mione," Harry said with a grin of his own as she kept walking passed them. "So, guys, ready for the game tonight?" he asked.

Sloper flipped the three rocks into the air and Kirke caught all three, flinging one of them to either side of Harry's head, and the third just knicked his left ear. "Hope so," Kirke said. "We're getting a lot better, anyway. Sorry about that..."

Harry shrugged it off. "Do whatever you can out there. We're having a bit of a pregame meeting now, though. In the common room... the others are probably already there."

Together, the three made their way quickly to the room and found the others waiting for them. They were all standing tall and at attention as though waiting for Harry specifically. When they saluted him as he entered, he looked to Ron angrily, who shrugged.

"Couldn't resist, mate."

"Well, you had better start," Harry muttered under his breath as he took a seat in one of the large chairs by the fire. "Alright, guys, first game's tonight. Ravenclaw has some tough players this year, though most of them are new to the team. Their captain is their seeker, too."

"That's not going to be a problem is it, Harry?" Colin asked. "I mean, you did go out with her, didn't you?"

Denis and Ron both hit Colin in the arm at the same time. "There's nothing there, you moron!" Denis said. "Didn't you hear about the breakup last year?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Colin?" Harry asked.

"Yeah?"

"Don't pry in my life, and I won't pry in yours, got it?" When Colin nodded, Harry went on. "Cho is an opponent, and nothing more. She happens to be an opponent that I intend to drive into the ground tonight, along with the rest of her team. We've got Chasers that can't be caught, Beaters who'll slug anything that comes their way and simply can't be beat, and the king himself is Keeping for us, right?"

"True, Harry, but don't sell yourself short," Ginny said, looking straight into his eyes. "We have you back, now. Gryffindor's never lost a game with you playing through. And whoever's on reserve will be watching to make sure no one tries anything."

"Good thinking... who came up with that one?"

"I did," Lavender admitted. "Something I thought of while in Divination, actually. I just sensed that something could go wrong tonight, and I figured it best to be on the lookout."

Harry wisely decided that it was not the time to discuss the merits of Divination. He then looked back and forth between the four Chasers. "Who's playing tonight?"

"You're not deciding?" Ginny asked in surprise. "I mean, you are the captain..."

"I'm also not stupid," Harry said. "And I know when to admit that I'm not the best... at least when it comes to Quidditch. You four know how you work together... at least, partially. We haven't had much practice time yet, but you should still have an idea."

"I really want to play against Slytherin," Lavender admitted. "But aside from them, I don't have much preference."

"You don't mind sitting this one out?" Colin asked.

"I did have the premonition about Harry, so it makes sense for me to be the one watching, doesn't it?" Lavender pointed out. "Besides, I don't want to split you and your brother up when we haven't had enough practice time to make up for it yet."

"Good, it's decided, then."

"Alright. Before we break to go down to supper - which all of you will eat some of, at least! - Colin, can you go get your camera?" Harry asked, looking to the fifth year.

"I guess... what for?"

"What else? We need a team shot before our first victory," Harry said with a smile.

If he looked at it objectively, then he would have to admit that Colin had a great deal of skill when it came to using that camera. As it was, after almost half an hour of fussing to get the picture, Harry was more irritated than anything else. Once it was finally done, he was the first one out the portrait hole, and Ron was right behind him.

"I'm gonna eat everything at the table!" Ron announced. "I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks."

"We could only wish, Ron," Harry muttered.

"And what's that suppos'ta mean?"

"Aside from you eating like a pig, you mean?"

Harry sat down at the table heavily, still feeling more nervous for this game than any other that he had played - aside from his first, of course. Ron sat next to him and immediately started to help himself to the food. Harry looked away when he heard someone humming the tune to "Weasley is our King," softly, and found Luna standing behind Ron, who turned quickly.

"Sorry, Ronald, but I don't think I can cheer for you in all rights, as my house is playing..." Luna said softly in her dreamy voice. "But I don't want to cheer against you, either, so I just won't cheer at all. I will be there to watch, though." She then leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to the Ravenclaw table.

Ron turned to Harry with a guilty expression on his face, and Harry burst out laughing. "So... you going to explain that today, or should I go fetch Ginny or Hermione to explain it for me? I'm sure if they heard..."

"Sod off, Harry," Ron mumbled, turning around again. "I was gonna tell ya, but I didn't want to, but I did. I mean, I kept thinking... ah, never mind. Doesn't matter anyway. You know now, right?"

"What, that you and Luna are dating?" Ron nodded feebly, and Harry hit him in the arm. "And just why didn't you want to tell me, anyway? Afraid I might owl your mum and tell her? Or any of your brothers?"

"No, Harry!" Ron said quickly. "No, I didn't think you'd do that, and so help me if you do, I'll probably end up hexing you into... into... into Grawp's waiting hands!"

"I hear he's much better behaved now, actually," Harry said, still smiling broadly.

"Yeah, well... I thought you might be upset. I mean, I sort of felt like I was breaking up our little trio after all, just by being with Luna like this."

"And why would that break up our trio?" Harry asked.

He stopped when Hermione sat down beside him. "What's going on?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Well, Ron's been hiding something from us, 'Mione," Harry said, his smile broadening. "Something he really didn't want us to find out about until much later, I guess. Care to take a guess at what that might be?"

"Oh, is he finally going out with Luna?" Hermione asked, looking to Ron.

Both boys just stared at her, slack jawed, until Ron started spluttering. "What... how... but... I mean... wha..." He then stopped and looked to Harry. "Can you explain that?"

"Why would I be able to explain it?"

"Oh honestly!" Hermione said with an exasperated sigh. "She took some OWLs last year so she could be in a few classes with you, and you and her have been studying together all term so far - even though we've barely started - and she keeps looking over to you whenever she thinks no one is looking. It was obviously going to happen at some stage..."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, and both shook their heads. "This woman's intuition thing is unreal," Ron muttered, going back to his food.

"And Ron should know enough that he shouldn't have been worried about breaking up our little trio. I mean, Luna was with us last year, remember?"

"So, Ron, can I assume this is a part of your 'changing dreams?'"

"I thought I told you to sod off."

No one said anything in response, and so Hermione and Ron both started eating. On the other hand, Harry just stirred what little food he had taken around on his plate for a few minutes, taking the occasional glance over to Hermione, who seemed to be in her own little world. He could still feel the weight of the golden bracelet in his pocket. He had thought a lot about it over the past week and a half, and his mind kept coming back to Talisien's words.

'What does she desire?'

Finally, he pushed his plate aside and looked to Hermione. "'Mione?" he called softly. She looked over to him almost instantly. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," she said.

"No, I mean... away from all this?"

Hermione looked back to her plate for a moment, bit her lower lip as though considering something, and then nodded and got up. Harry got up right afterwards and followed her out of the Great Hall. She turned into the first available classroom and Harry shut the door behind him.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione whispered, closing the distance between them so she was only a step away from him. "Is something bothering you again?"

"No," Harry said instantly, but after looking into her chocolate brown eyes for a split second, he shook his head again. "I mean, yes. But no. Just everything."

"Harry?"

"'Mione... what do you want?"

Hermione frowned at him. "What do you mean, Harry?"

Harry sighed. "Well, 'Mione... it's like this. I spoke with Talisien a few days ago, and he got me thinking about things... more than I thought he would have, too. I didn't ask him or anything, but somehow it came up. Anyway, he asked me if I was trying to push you away for your own protection, or because I didn't care. Or something like that, anyway."

Hermione held her breath for a moment until it became obvious that he was waiting for her reaction. "And?" she prodded.

"Well, once I told him, he then asked me what you wanted. He pointed out that sometimes it isn't up to individuals to decide to protect others - sometimes people won't let us protect them."

"Harry, you aren't making much sense here."

"I know," Harry sighed, sitting down hard at a desk. "I know, I'm not very good at this, 'Mione." He looked up to her again, and forced himself to smile. "I even tried to do what I can imagine you doing... planning it all out beforehand... but that's all gone now. None of it makes any sense now that I'm sitting here actually talking to you..."

"Harry?" He stopped and looked to her again. "How long have we known each other, Harry?"

"More than five years," Harry admitted.

"So don't you think you can just talk to me about anything? I told you that I'm always here for you, no matter what, right?"

Harry didn't say anything. Instead, he reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out the golden bracelet carefully. He then stood up and stood very close to Hermione, and reached up with his free hand to run it through her bushy brown hair. "'Mione..."

That was all he said before pulling away and showing her the bracelet in his hands. He held it out to her for a moment, and their eyes met. He was startled for a moment to see tears in her eyes, but before he could react to them, she took the bracelet gently from his grasp and did it up on her own left wrist. She then held out her arms and the two embraced.

It was not a passionate embrace, nor was it a simple embrace between good friends. It was more than that, somehow... much more. Some hugs cannot be explained until they are experienced, and they both knew that that was what this was. Harry breathed in deeply, taking in her smell, and sighed into her. "Happy birthday, 'Mione," he whispered into her ear.

"Thanks, Harry," she replied, holding him a little tighter. "I had almost thought that you had forgotten, and now... This is more than I could have ever expected. When did you find the time to get this?"

Harry pulled away just a bit so he could look into her eyes when he answered. "It once belonged to the elves," he explained. "It has protections on it to keep you safe from some things, but I don't know what exactly. Besides that, though... you know the elven tradition, right? I mean, it's not like I'm asking for your protection or anything... just... I just wanted to..."

"I understand, Harry," she breathed, looking at her bracelet with an odd expression on her face. "Thank you so much..."

"Anything for you, 'Mione."

Just as Harry was about to lean in to give her a gentle kiss, Hermione's wand started to vibrate. She looked down to it in surprise, and then back to Harry. "Harry! Your game's about to start! Get down there! Good luck!"

"What?" He didn't stop to wait for an answer as she pushed him towards the door. Once in the corridor, he took off in a dead run down to the Quidditch pitch. As he ran, he held up a hand instinctively. "Accio Firebolt!" Without bothering to consider the fact that he had just summoned his broom wandless, he caught it as it whizzed passed, and mounted quickly to shoot towards the field.

He skidded to a halt in the changing rooms, and found the rest of the team already there, pacing back and forth. He didn't say anything to them as he pulled off his robes and pulled on his Quidditch uniform. He then paused and looked around.

"I've said all I can to you. I don't know about the rest of you, but I intend to win this game," he said, looking to each in turn. His eyes stopped on Lavender, who was changed, had her broom with her, and had her wand in her other hand. "Thanks. Don't forget to cheer us on."

"We're going to win, Harry," Ginny said fiercely, a sentiment that everyone else in the room echoed almost at once. "The cup is ours this year."

Harry nodded as he walked out of the changing rooms and onto the pitch. The sun was just starting to set, but there were magical lights set up around the field to provide sight. The stadium was filled with students, and a great cheer went up from half the crowd as he walked out. Over the din he could hear Dean Thomas - the new student in charge of commentating - calling out the names of the players. He toned it all out as he walked to the centre to meet Cho and Madame Hooch.

"Right then, I want a good clean game, understand?" Madame Hooch asked, looking to both captains meaningfully. When they nodded, she smiled. "Shake hands, then."

"Good luck, Harry," Cho said warmly. Harry nodded and they released hands and took a step back each.

"Mount your brooms!"

The wind had never felt so good in Harry's ears before as he shot into the air on the whistle. He could hear Dean's enthusiastic shouting into the magical microphone, but trusted his own instincts to look around. Ron was in position already, which was just as well, and he saw his three Chasers starting down the field to steal the Quaffle from the opposing team. What he didn't see was either bludger... until he had to dodge both in a row.

"Carmichael and Thompson seem to have it in for Gryffindor's Seeker, and who can blame them? Riding his incredible Firebolt, our own Harry Potter is nigh unstoppable in his quest for the golden snitch! And it's Weasley with the Quaffle... stolen by Bradley..." There was a great cheer from about half the crowd, and Dean screamed into the microphone before saying what happened. "And a bloody brilliant beating job by Sloper nearly knocks Bradley off his broom. Creevy in possession of the Quaffle... now the other Creevy... now Weasley... and what's this? She's thrown it to no one! They wouldn't be attempting the legendary Filitanos Beat, would they?"

Harry stopped looking for the snitch to look down in time to see Kirke smashing the Quaffle with his beater stick. Ginny was right next to a hoop, and snapped it in with the end of her broomstick to deafening applause. He put his mind back on the snitch as soon as the goal was scored, well aware that Cho was simply sitting behind him in the air. He was tagged.

Tuning out the enthusiastic announcing from Dean, he started looking around the field quickly. Knowing that Cho couldn't keep up with him, he shot forward and spun around the Ravenclaw hoops before zooming in the opposite direction towards their own goal posts.

The sun had completely set by the time Harry caught his first glimpse of the snitch, but as he had to dodge a rouge bludger, he lost sight of it again almost immediately. He heard the crunch behind him which said Cho hadn't been so fortunate, and allowed himself a brief reprieve as he pulled up higher to look around.

Once he was high in the air and almost impossible for the crowd to even spot, he stopped and started looking around very carefully. The gold wouldn't stay out of sight forever, he knew that much. He was vaguely aware of the fact that they were leading by almost one hundred points by this stage, even though Ron had let a couple through.

All thoughts went out the window when he spotted it, though. The fleck of gold was hovering near the Ravenclaw goal posts. Leaning into his broom, he shot down again at dizzying speeds. He blew past all three Ravenclaw Chasers, who turned to watch him despite themselves. He rolled aside of two bludger attacks before he felt Cho's presence behind him, trying in vain to catch him.

The snitch was almost in reach. It was just darting a little further away... just a little further... and then Harry lurched to a stop. He was thrown forward hard, but somehow managed to hold onto his broom. The snitch was just a few hand's lengths away, but he couldn't reach it if his broom wasn't going to move. He leaned forward hard to try and convince it, but it was stuck, just hovering in the air where it was. 

He looked behind him and saw that Cho had almost caught up. She would catch the snitch, and there was nothing he could do about it. Looking back, he threw caution to the wind and leapt from his broom, grabbing the snitch in an instant. He heard the cheers first, and then several horrified screams before he felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and he was falling fast.

There was a flash of dark green suddenly almost fifty feet in the air, and he felt the strong grip of Talisien wrap around him. Before he could register how this was even possible, the two crashed hard into the ground, the elf taking the brunt of the fall. Harry shook himself a little, and found that he was almost completely uninjured.

He rolled off Talisien slowly, still more than a little shaken by the fall, and heard the elf groan. He looked back and saw Talisien pulling himself to his feet. It looked like he was in tremendous pain. Harry heard shouting and screaming all around him, but it all seemed to be coming from another world as he watched his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher take several staggered steps towards the Forbidden Forest before balking to one knee, and then falling forward flat on his face.

The next thing he registered was Hermione throwing her arms around him, and he held her in return as the noise around him started leaking through whatever barrier he had set up. He then heard Hermione's sobs, and he held her tighter. "It's alright, 'Mione, don't worry," he whispered to her.

"Alright?" she asked in a rough voice. "You could have been killed! You fell almost fifty feet! If not more! Talisien could have died from that impact! How could you do something so stupid?" Through her tirade, she simply held him tighter and tighter, until he was starting to wonder just how much longer he would be able to breathe.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't think about it... I just didn't want to lose to Cho..."

"Welcome to the club," Hermione whispered in return, smiling sadly to him through her tears. She then looked beyond him to the fallen elf. "Is he okay?" she asked as she released him and the rest of the team came up to congradulate Harry and check on the Wanderer.

Neither Harry nor Hermione could explain exactly how Kailyn appeared next to her grandfather barely a breath later, but she was there, kneeling next to him. "He'll be okay," she said, looking up to the crowd that had gathered there. "He'll just need a while to recover."

... 

"So he really flew to save Harry?" Ron asked in surprise, looking away from the Gryffindor fireplace to Hermione. "I didn't think elves could fly."

"Oh Ron, they can't!" Hermione said, throwing her hands up in defeat. "And I never said he did. He's just such a skilled waywatcher that he can find footholds even on the dust in the air around us!"

"It still sounds like flying to me," Ron muttered.

"And Legilimency still sounds like mind reading to me," Harry said, plopping down in the third chair by the fire. When they both looked to him, he shrugged. "He'll be okay, I guess. Madame Pomfrey's tending to his wounds - I guess he broke a few bones in the landing - and she said he'd be out for almost a month. But then he'll be as good as new again. Until then... I'm not sure who's going to be teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I've never seen anything keep him down that long," Kailyn said as she sat in front of the fire on the floor. "Mark my words, he'll be back before a week."

"Kailyn, I'm really sorry," Harry said softly to her.

"For what?"

"Well, for making him get hurt like that," Harry explained.

She turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "You can control the Wanderer? You made him save you like that? I'm impressed... I thought Fey was the only one who could control him even a little..." She then rolled her eyes and looked back to the fire.

"Fine, I get your point," Harry muttered, standing slowly from the chair. "Look, I'm beat, and I can't take much more today. I think I'm going to bed."

"What about your broom, mate?"

"I left Lavender with it, and she's with Flitwick right now examining it. She was watching carefully, Ron, and didn't see any curses, jinxes, or counter-curses being cast. Which means it must have been tampered with beforehand." He then turned to the rest of the common room, and found the rest of the team sitting in amongst everyone else. "Good game today, guys. Two hundred seventy to forty. Even I couldn't have asked for better. Hell, even Wood couldn't have asked for more."

Hermione caught his arm before he stepped onto the stairs leading up to his dorm, and he turned back to her, only to be enveloped in a hug. "Sleep well tonight, Harry," she whispered.

He leaned into the hug a bit so he could whisper back into her ear. "I'll be dreaming of you with any luck, so I should. Do you want to do something special tomorrow? We can consider it a birthday thing... just the two of us?"

"I'd love to," she whispered back, feeling a shiver running down her spine at his breath on her ear. "When?"

"We'll figure it out. Night, 'Mione." He squeezed her a little bit more and then released her and turned to climb the stairs, ignoring the looks the two of them were getting from everyone else in the common room. Without a word to anyone else, Hermione turned and went up the other way, leaving her books, bag, and quills on her table.

... 

Until the sun sets upon a broken world,

**The Shadows**


	12. The Date and the Resurrection of the DA

Chapter Twelve: The Date and the Resurrection of the DA 

The deep breath Harry took when he woke up quickly turned into a large yawn. Only when it was over did he think the air felt a little strange. It was crisp and clear... more so than usual, and held a bit of moisture that he certainly wasn't used to.

When he finally found his glasses and put them on, he pulled back the curtains on his four poster bed and found that one of the windows in the dorm was wide open, and it was still very early. That explained the taste in the air, and he sighed softly as he sat back down on his bed. He was really getting far too paranoid.

Looking back to his nightstand, he frowned when he didn't see his wand. He checked his bed quickly to see if he had taken it with him by mistake, but it didn't appear to be there, either.

As quietly as he could, he ducked down to the floor and looked under his bed, but it was far too dark to see anything under there. That was probably just as well anyway, given that he wasn't entirely sure something didn't live under the beds in the castle. If not, it was one of the only things that hadn't turned out like he had imagined a world like this one could have been like when he was much younger.

"Lumos..." he whispered. His wand often responded to the spell even when he wasn't holding it, so it was worth a shot. No bright light flooded out from under his bed, though. "Alright... Accio Wand!"

He could only stare in amazement when his wand flew into his hand from behind him. It must have rolled off his nightstand and under Ron's bed instead. He sighed again as he sat down on his bed once more. It didn't really matter, he supposed. As he was about to grab his robes so he could get dressed, he stopped when the early morning sun caught the gold of his bracelet.

The bracelet that Hermione had given him. But it was so much more than that, too. It was a promise... a promise from him to her that he would always protect her. He knew it wasn't exactly what she wanted, and if he was honest with himself, it wasn't quite how he felt, either.

That thought was forced from his mind quickly as he pulled off his pajamas and pulled on his robes. Once he was dressed, he took a quick look around the room to make sure no one else was up, and then snuck as quietly as possible from the dorm to go to the common room. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. Just before he left the dorm, he remembered to check his pockets.

Satisfied when he found both the teleportation stone that Talisien had given him, as well as the old two way mirror, he turned again and started down the stairs.

... 

With a disgruntled sigh, Hermione finally decided to open her eyes. She had been trying to get back to sleep before dawn had crested, but had been unable to. Although she had slept peacefully during the night - once she had finally gotten to sleep, anyway, with all that was on her mind - she still didn't want to get up quite so early.

Knowing it was pointless to fight it any longer didn't help matters, but she still sat up in her bed and let out a long, slow breath to orient herself. She ran a hand through her long, bushy hair to try and get a few of the knots that had developed overnight out, but that, too, was a lost cause.

She reached over to her nightstand for her hairbrush, and started to work out the kinks as gently as she could. She didn't want to have to muffle anything as she worked, so she knew she would have to work carefully.

When she was finally done, she set her brush aside and sighed, pushing the thin strap to her nightgown back up to her shoulder without a second thought. As she did so, her brown eyes fell onto the golden bracelet that was on her wrist. That was on her mind more than anything else last night.

The magical bracelet that Harry had given her yesterday. Oh, she knew it was actually magical, but in her head, it was magic because Harry had given it to her... telling her that he was ready to try, if she still wanted to. And she did.

Although part of her wanted to look at the runes on the inside of the bracelet to try to translate them and understand what magics were at work, a larger, more reckless part of her didn't want to take it off. She didn't know when this side really started to take over... maybe it was last year when she agreed to help Harry on his rescue mission. Or maybe it was before that. All she really knew was that Harry had given her the bracelet, and she would abide by what it meant. She would protect him however she could.

Not that she wouldn't have before...

It was on that thought that she started to get dressed. It wasn't like she was going to be able to get back to sleep anyway. Aside from thoughts of Harry going through her mind, she was also thinking about the Wanderer, and how he was doing.

When she had her robes on, she picked up the old mirror that was on her nightstand and looked at it carefully. She knew how it worked, but she hadn't heard Harry's voice in it for quite some time. He must not have been talking to Sirius about her anymore. She felt really guilty for having it and not telling him, but she wasn't sure how to go about it.

She pocketed the mirror and she left the dormitory. Harry had said that they would go somewhere private for a time today, so she would tell him then. She ignored Crookshanks as he shot out of the dorm ahead of her and padded downstairs.

... 

"Well, hello Crookshanks," Harry mumbled from his seat in front of the fireplace. The orange cat sauntered over to him slowly, and he held a hand down for him to sniff. Apparently satisfied, he gave a long, low purr that sounded almost like the grumbling of the ground during an earthquake, and then sat up and started rubbing against Harry's leg. "Affectionate this morning, aren't you?"

"Crookshanks?" Harry looked up quickly at Hermione's voice, and saw her standing in the staircase to the girls' dorms. "Harry? What are you doing up so early?"

Harry shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing, I suppose." She sat down across from him and he met her eye. He held her gaze for a moment before breaking away again. "Couldn't sleep."

"Why not?" Hermione asked. "Still worried about Talisien?"

Harry looked back to her quickly. "I guess," he admitted. "Among other things."

"Oh."

"I was also wondering what Lavender found out about my broom."

"That's understandable," Hermione said logically. She then frowned. "Oh, but Harry, she never came back to the dorm last night." Seeing Harry's worried look, she went on quickly. "I'm sure Flitwick will be able to figure it out. Maybe Lavender just stayed so she could learn what to watch for."

"Maybe." He then looked away from her and back to the fire. "I'm sorry, 'Mione."

"What for?"

"I broke my promise to you," he explained sadly.

"W... What promise?" Hermione was surprised by the crack in her voice, and fought to hold back her emotions. She could practically feel the tears starting to build already. "What promise did you break, Harry?"

Crookshanks hissed at this, baring his claws and digging them into the rug. Both looked to the kneazle in surprise, and then the orange creature sat back and rubbed against Harry's hanging hand again.

"I... I told you I wouldn't do anything stupid in the game yesterday," Harry whispered, looking at Crookshanks rather than at Hermione.

"That?" Hermione asked in a much softer, gentler tone. She had to resist the urge of holding a hand to try and still her rapid heart rate. "Oh, don't worry about that," she said quickly. "I'll never really understand why, but I know winning at Quidditch is important to you. At least you weren't killed."

"But the Wanderer could have been," Harry sighed.

Deciding she didn't like where the conversation was going, Hermione stood up rather suddenly. "So, Harry, where are we going today, anyway?"

"Going?"

"You offered to take me somewhere, just the two of us, remember?"

Harry blinked in surprise, and Hermione didn't even notice that she was staring into his emerald eyes again. She could easily get lost in those eyes. "Well, how would you like to go to Hogsmeade?" he suggested. "I mean, it wouldn't be by the rules, I guess, but I can tell you that it would be fun!"

"How would we get there, though? I don't really fancy going through a witch's bottom and coming out in Honeyduke's cellar, you know?" Hermione was thinking fast. She knew that he had a portkey from Tonks that would lead to Hogsmeade, but she couldn't let on she knew. She'd tell him that she had the mirror, but she wasn't about to tell him that she had heard anything.

Harry explained the gift he had received from Tonks, and Hermione shook her head almost at once. "Harry, that's a portkey! You could use it like that stone Talisien gave you to get out of trouble, couldn't you?"

"Well, unless there are charms in place to prevent it, I guess I could," he admitted. "But I guess it needs two people to activate. She wasn't really clear on the way to use it."

"Honestly, Harry, weren't you paying attention in Charms on Friday?" she asked. "Professor Flitwick explained about time delayed portkeys, remember? He said that it was very difficult to do, but once it was active, but delayed, it could be activated again by the touch of a wand..."

"Uh... right," Harry said quickly. "So, how about it?"

She bit her lower lip, thinking for a minute before answering. "I'd love to, Harry, but I'd rather you keep it with that stone, so you can use it in case you need to." She held up her left hand before he could complain and pulled down her robes to expose her bracelet. "Mine means I'll protect you, too, remember? This is one way that I can help..."

Harry sighed and nodded. "Alright," he said, standing and causing Crookshanks to fall backwards in surprise before getting up with a hiss and returning to Hermione. "Where would you suggest, then, fair maiden?"

"Fair maiden, am I?" she asked with a giggle. "Oh, I don't know, how about some breakfast, and then we head somewhere where we can just sit and talk. The astronomy tower, maybe?"

"Hermione Jane Granger, are you trying to seduce me?"

"What?"

Harry grinned at her. "I know that you know what most couples use that tower for, don't you, 'Mione?"

Hermione reddened almost instantly, going from pale to tomato in about two seconds. "I... I didn't mean... I just wanted to..."

She was silenced by a finger against her lips. "I know, 'Mione, don't worry. I was just teasing you. Come on. Let's get something to eat."

It was only after promising the house elf Dobby that he would return before too long that Harry and Hermione were able to slip out of the secret passage that lead to the kitchens. Breakfast wasn't being served in the Great Hall yet, so they had had to resort to tickling the pear to get something to eat - and Dobby was, of course, please to serve them.

Neither spoke at all as they walked through the halls, their footsteps almost deafeningly loud in the empty corridors. Harry looked to Hermione a few times - more times than he would admit, anyway - and whenever he met her gaze, it was clear. There was no real need to talk. They were comfortable in the empty silence, just the two of them.

After climbing the steps to the Astrology tower, Harry held the door open for Hermione, and bowed. She laughed at his antics and waltzed in, sitting down in one of the large, comfortable chairs that the professor often sat in while the students looked through the telescopes.

If either Harry or Hermione were surprised by Crookshanks padding into the room before Harry could shut the door, neither said so. When Harry sat down on the floor in from of Hermione, she looked a little confused by the distance. As he looked into her chocolate eyes, he knew there were some things that couldn't be portrayed with words.

"'Mione?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why me?" Harry asked. She smiled softly to him, and then slid onto the ground in front of him, so they were at the same level. "And when? I mean, all of last year I was horrible to both you and Ron, and it's not like we really saw much of each other over the summer, right?"

As Harry was speaking, he barely even realised that he was petting Crookshanks until he felt her hand on top of his. "You weren't always horrible, Harry. Not really, anyway. When it counted, you always seemed to seek me out to talk to, before anyone else. That really made me feel... different. I... I don't know, really, Harry." She trailed off despite her fast start. She looked thoughtful for a moment, biting at her lower lip in the way that Harry had taken to thinking was rather endearing. "I mean, that's not really a fair question, is it? Asking when I started to fall for my best friend?"

"Maybe not, but I'm sure you've answered your fair share of difficult questions, right?"

She smiled and nodded at that. "True, but don't forget about you, Harry. You've answered your own difficulties."

"Only with help from you."

"Alright," she said after a moment, squeezing his hand lightly before pulling back. They were sitting close to each other, but despite how close their legs were together, there was no actual contact anymore. "I'll tell you, but you've got to tell me, too."

"What?"

"Oh honestly, Harry... do I have to spell this sort of thing out for you? You're the great Harry Potter! You could probably have any girl you really wanted... at least, any girl worth the time... but you chose me. Why?"

"Oh. That."

Hermione giggled, and Crookshanks chose that exact moment to leapt from the ground into her lap. She said nothing as she let her kneazle/cat get comfortable, and then looked back to Harry. "Well, I guess it was around either fourth or fifth year... but I'm not sure when. I can't really pinpoint it, you know?"

"Anything close?"

"Well... you'll think I'm horrible for this I just know it!" she said after a moment, shaking her head.

"'Mione... I'd never think you were horrible."

"It was when Ron wasn't talking to you during the Tri-Wizard Tournament!" she blurted out. "I really enjoyed spending time with you, Harry, and not having to fight with Ron all the time. I realised that I liked spending time with you... even though you brood all the time and let every little thing get to you!"

"That long?"

"Well, sort of. That might be when it started, anyway, but I was really worried during the summer of that year. No one was willing to tell you anything, and I knew that something awful was going to happen and figured that you might even do something really stupid like you did before third year and - "

Harry's snort cut her off. "Stupid? I doubt it. I can barely ever do anything stupid if given time to think about it. I keep hearing your voice in my head, ordering me not to break the rules."

"You hear my voice?"

"I guess. I think it's my conscience, really, but it sounds just like you when you turn all preachy about things."

"That's nice... in a creepy sort of way, I guess," Hermione said, a grin on her face. She looked like she might break into giggles at any moment at the mere idea, though. That look vanished from her face when Crookshanks turned towards her again and seemed to try to climb up her front. All this really accomplished - given that he stopped after putting two paws on her - was pressing the mirror into her side, reminding her of its presence. "Harry... I've got a confession to make," she said slowly. "But I don't know if you want to hear it or not."

He looked into her eyes for a moment, and could see the doubt layered there as plainly as though he felt it himself. Somehow, he was reassured anyway. He knew that it wasn't about her feelings for him - though he couldn't say how he knew for the life of him. Rather than trust his voice, he simply nodded.

Hermione took a deep breath and looked down at Crookshanks, who happened to be covering her pocket so she couldn't get at the mirror. The orange kneazle looked up to her for a moment before getting up and leaping into Harry's lap, which caught him so off guard he fell backwards. Hermione giggled almost right away, which meant he got no help from her to right himself, and Crookshanks just made himself comfortable while Harry struggled.

Once he was up again, she reached into her pocket and closed her eyes as she pulled the mirror out slowly and held it out to Harry. When he didn't say anything, she cracked one eye open to look at him, and was surprised to find him holding out his half of the two way mirrors.

"You... you aren't mad, are you?"

Harry shrugged and turned his mirror over. The note from Sirius had long been removed, but he still looked at the back carefully. "Have you been listening to me talking to Sirius?" He looked up slowly, and met her eyes again.

"No, Harry, I wouldn't do that to you!" Hermione said instantly, though she felt bad for lying right away. As she looked back into his soft, gentle, emerald eyes, she saw a darkness creep into them slowly at her words. She bit her lip hard, not wanting to say anything else right away.

Harry looked away slowly and sighed. "Why would you lie to me, Hermione?" His use of her full name did not go unnoticed by her. "I can see it in your eyes... you lied to me."

"I..." Hermione closed her eyes tightly, willing away the hurt that she felt at his dejected voice. "Harry, I didn't _mean_ to listen in, honestly! It just... I mean, I had the mirror, and suddenly I started to hear your voice coming from it, and... oh Harry, I'm sorry!"

"What did you hear?"

Hermione winced - she should have seen the question coming, but that didn't make it any easier to answer. "Just after your birthday... mostly stuff about how you were afraid to get close to anyone, because you thought they'd die. You said some other things, but I was crying too hard to listen."

She felt his eyes on her then, and looked up to meet his gaze. She didn't know what he was doing, but she trusted him... and knew that she wanted him to trust her. After a moment, he nodded. "It's okay, 'Mione." She sighed at the sound of his nickname for her, but he was still talking. "I mean, if things were different... he'd probably have given you the other mirror anyway."

"Sirius?" As soon as the name escaped her lips, she wished she could have stuck her foot in her mouth. It was the equivalent of what she had just done anyway. The life seemed to drain out of Harry as he looked down to his mirror again, and she reached out to clasp one of his hands, to offer support, but he pulled away. "Harry..."

"It's not my fault, I know," he whispered. "But I miss him, 'Mione. I barely knew him, but I miss him. He could have been a father to me, but now I'll never know. Everyone I love... dies. Or is injured, or targeted, and can never really feel safe again."

"Harry James Potter, look at me." The tone in Hermione's voice made it impossible for Harry not to look up, and he saw that there were tears in her eyes. "I thought we went over this. I know the risks. Your friends all know the risks. But we want to be with you anyway. I want to be with you almost more than I want to breathe - it hurts me more when I can't be. When I thought you died over the summer... I felt like part of me died with you!"

Harry sighed and looked down to Crookshanks, who let out a long purr and got out of his lap to start wandering around the room. "Funny, I felt the same way when I thought you were killed at the Ministry. Sad thing is that I know it would have been my fault."

"I chose to come, Harry. Don't forget that. I even went with you to Umbridge's fire, remember?"

"And I never thanked you. Or apologized. You were right."

"I don't care." Harry blinked in surprise to that. "I don't." She stopped then, though it looked like she had more to say. She shook her head suddenly, and Harry had the sudden urge to touch her hair... smooth it out, feel the warmth of being close to her. "Look, I don't think you wanted to take me somewhere so we could get all depressed, did you?"

Harry sighed. "No. But I seem to be good at getting people down."

"I'm always happier when I'm with you." There was a pause, and then she got up and sat back down in the chair, scrunching over to one side and patting the rest of the cushion. It took Harry a moment to decide whether or not he was going to join her, but when he wrapped an arm around her and the two leaned against each other, he was glad he had. "Are you still planning on becoming an Auror, Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "Of course. You know that, 'Mione." He then paused and looked more closely at her. "What do you plan on doing? You never really told anyone, did you?"

"Promise you won't laugh?" Harry just looked at her in a what-do-you-take-me-for kind of way, and she smiled. "I... I want to be a Healer."

Harry smiled broadly at this, his emerald eyes twinkling in the sun that was rising above them slowly. "That's perfect, 'Mione. I'd actually take the potions and rest properly if you were the one telling me to do it."

"Don't make fun of me!"

"I wasn't." Something in his voice told her, without question, that he was being serious, and to that, she simply held him a little tighter.

"Well, I figured that I'd like to be able to Heal injuries. Since I know all sorts of protection charms - not to mention the jinxes, hexes, and curses that I've picked up - I could go to the field... go with Aurors, I mean."

"I'd like that."

Hermione smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before going on. "I've learn a lot of things from talking to Madame Pomfrey and reading through a few books on it, but Talisien said that I could focus on it in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I've even been reading up on potions that would be used. Talisien also said that he could try to teach me some of the elven healing methods."

Her voice faded as she looked at Harry. It wasn't hard to figure out what was on his mind, either. Mentioning the Wanderer had set her mind in motion again, too. "Kailyn seemed really upbeat about the whole thing," Harry said softly. "I wish I could take her view."

There was a lot of things going through Hermione's mind. She picked through them quickly and carefully, and finally decided on what might actually help take his mind off the problem. "Look, Harry, how would you like to see about getting the DA up and running again? We could look for the members today and let them know, and we could even meet tonight to talk about the year..."

"Talisien'll be back soon, 'Mione."

"But you were planning on doing it anyway, remember? You worked so hard over the summer on the plans..."

Harry smiled and rested his head against hers carefully. "I know." After a moment, he sat back up. "You know what? I think I will. Everyone seemed to enjoy it last year." He looked to her and smiled. "Do you want to do that today, though? This was the day I promised to you..."

"Are you saying that this is the only day I'll ever get to spend some alone time with you, Mr. Potter?" Hermione asked in a scathing voice. Her eyes, though, were practically laughing at him.

Harry sighed. "I guess we could do this again... I mean, if you're going to insist and all..." He got up half dejectedly, and then chanced a glance to Hermione out of the corner of his eye. When their eyes met, he couldn't keep up the charade, and neither could she, and both collapsed into a fit of laughter.

... 

It was almost an hour later that Harry finally shouted down the staircase to Hermione in the Gryffindor common room. He had been searching through his trunk for the leading gold galleon that she had enchanted, but hadn't had much luck finding it. He knew that, although he couldn't have helped her look in the girls' dorms, she could come up the guys' side.

As she pushed open the door to join him, he had just pushed everything to one side of his trunk, and the galleon was sitting right there. "Ah... never mind," he said, picking it up. "Guess I found it."

She looked at him with an odd look on her face for a moment. "Are you sure you weren't just trying to get me alone in your room?" At the shocked look on his face, she laughed and went on quickly. "Oh, honestly, Harry, you are going to have to learn when I'm teasing and when I'm not..."

"I still think you should write a book on understanding girls." As he rubbed the coin in between two fingers, he stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you, 'Mione."

Although she held him in return, it was only after a moment's hesitation. "For what?"

"Everything," he replied as he released her. To her surprise, he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the nose before turning to the exit of the dorm. "So, tonight you reckon? After supper, we all meet outside the room?"

"Sure," but if you think you're getting away that easily..." she said, catching his arm as he started to leave. He turned at her touch, and found his lips against hers as she pressed into him. It took just a second for him to return the kiss, wrapping his arms around her again as he did so.

It had only really lasted a couple of seconds before a startled yelp from downstairs startled them out of it and, with one quick look into each other's eyes, they both tore down to see what was going on.

Neville was searching through his pockets excitedly, and Ginny was holding up her gold galleon proudly, looking at the inscription that would usually have held the date. Pavarti and Lavender were both looking to the staircase as though waiting for Harry to come down again. Once they all saw him, the were all on their feet facing him.

"So, you're doing it this year again?"

"You expected otherwise, Pavarti?"

"Tonight, then," Ginny interrupted the two. "Any idea who's coming back?"

"Fred and George both told me over the summer at..." he paused for a moment. "Home... that their only regret about not coming back was not being a part of the DA anymore. But I'm not sure who else will be coming."

"I know one who isn't," Neville said fiercely, surprising the others. "That girl from last year... the one who ratted us out - Mariet or something."

"Marietta Edgecomb," Hermione supplied. "And you're right, she's not. Mind you, from what Harry told me, I doubt she even remembers much about it in the first place..."

"Any of you mind checking to make sure the others know, just in case they don't have their coins with them?"

"The only ones interested this year would have them, Harry, don't worry," Ginny said. "But we can go check."

Lavender was the only one who didn't leave, and she took a step closer to Harry. "I was hoping to speak to you for a moment, Harry," she said softly. He nodded, and then saw her eyes flit to Hermione for a brief second before returning to him.

"Anything you have to say to me can be said to Hermione, too," Harry reassured her. "I'd probably tell her later anyway."

"So..." she started, looking at him very carefully. Harry swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and finally nodded subtly. Lavender's squeal made him open his eyes again quickly. "I knew it!" she said happily. "You two will be perfect together! Oh, don't worry, I won't tell a soul, but the way you two are glowing... there's no question!"

"Harry?"

He turned to Hermione and gave a weak smile. "She made me promise to tell her if... we ever decided to get closer - or at least, if we were going to try."

"So, you're alright with this?" Hermione asked quietly. When he nodded again, she gave him a quick, gentle kiss on the lips, and smiled. This only resulted in Lavender giving an Oooing sound, and both looked to her sharply.

Blushing, she looked away. "Sorry, just a little overexcited, that's all. I thought I saw this coming in the crystal earlier," she explained. "But that's besides the point, isn't it? Look, Harry, I really wanted to talk to you about your broom."

The light feeling in Harry's heart from the morning suddenly came crashing down, and he was sure that it was suddenly resting in the soles of his feet instead of in his chest. "What about it?"

"Well, Flitwick wasn't sure how, but it looks like someone enchanted both it and the snitch, so your broom would freeze whenever it got close to the snitch. He tried disenchanting it, or even making a more powerful charm to override it, but he hasn't been able to, yet. I left it with him a little while ago - he said he'd do whatever he could. McGonagall joined us just before I left, and they were both hard at work with it then."

Harry sighed and looked over to the fireplace slowly. That only served to remind him just where the broom had come from in the first place as he recalled seeing Sirius's head pop into those flames last year. "At least... at least we don't have another game until November."

"Actually, McGonagall said something like that too, only she said our next game wasn't until December, or even January."

"Did she say why? Or why we started so early this year?"

"I asked, but she insisted that it was for a good reason."

... 

When Harry arrived outside the Room of Requirement and started pacing, Hermione appeared next to him after three passes, just as the door itself opened. "I've got the galleons from Katie, Angelina, and Alicia," she said excitedly, holding out her hand to give them to him. "They were carrying them, too, and felt them go off, and they all decided to owl them back to me so I could pass them out again. They all wanted to be here again, though."

Before Harry could reply, the room was suddenly getting quite full as people started pouring in. Ron and Luna were the first to enter after he and Hermione, and he noticed at once that this time they were holding hands. Dean entered next, followed closely by Neville, Lavender, Pavarti, her twin Padma, Ginny, and Colin. Colin's brother Denis entered a few minutes later with Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, and Cho Chang. Ernie Macmillian, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot were next, and then the door swung shut slowly behind them.

Harry found that he had suddenly lost the ability to speak as he looked at the crowd of students who had returned, despite everything that had happened. He looked out to each of them, meeting all of their eyes in turn, and found them watching expectantly.

He swallowed hard and turned away from the crowd. Hermione, he noticed, had gone to sit with Ron and Luna, and was also watching him. He placed his hands against the desk that was there and squeezed his eyes closed tightly. "You... you actually all came back..."

"Of course we did, Harry," Neville said at once.

"We're behind you all the way, mate!" Dean called.

"The DA!"

Harry turned back to them with a weak smile on his face. "I know. I just... I don't know, I just didn't expect to see this many people coming back when we have a very competent teacher this year anyway."

"But we wanted to learn from you, Harry," Cho said softly. He looked down and found her sitting near the front, looking up to him. The butterfly feeling in his stomach that had often accompanied such things last year was gone, though.

"We'd follow you anywhere," Ginny offered.

Harry closed his eyes at that statement, knowing the truth behind it. Even if he tried to fight it, some of the people in the room would follow him into danger willingly, at a total disregard for their own safety. Everyone in the room thought there was something worth fighting for.

"Is nineteen, including me, enough, or do we want a few more?" Harry asked the room.

"A few more wouldn't hurt, but this works, too," Hermione piped up.

Harry nodded and looked around again. The foeglass in the back of the room had murky shapes moving about, and he vowed then and there to always check it at least a couple of times each class. "Right. If anyone knows of a couple of people who they think would be good in here, see Hermione. She has a couple of old galleons lying around..." he trailed off at the chuckling. "So, to start things off this year, I was thinking we could divide into groups of like-minded people. I made a list of my own, but I want to see where you all think you should end up."

"What kind of like-minded people do you mean?"

"Well, would you be more likely to curse an enemy, or protect an ally? Or would you be more likely to utter a counter-curse to really mess up an attack, or stay in the sidelines to try to fix the damages? Or would you charm objects to use as weapons or shields?" After a moment, he went on. "Mind you, the protection and healing sort of go together, don't they? Alright, four different groups, then."

He stepped back and said nothing as they group all stood and started talking amongst themselves, figuring out where each group would go, and which group they would be a part of. It came as no surprise, especially after talking to her earlier, that Hermione was at the lead of the protection/healing group. Joining her were Lavender, Denis, and Hannah.

Ginny was at the head of the cursing group, which also came as no real surprise. He had expected Ron to be there as well, but instead found Neville, Pavarti, Justin, and Colin.

In the counter-curse group was where he found Ron, together with Luna, as well as Susan, Anthony, and Ernie. The last group - charms - consisted of Padma, Cho, Denis, and Terry.

Looking down at the list in his hand that he had taken from his lesson planner, he found he had only mixed up a couple of people - otherwise, they were right where he thought they would be.

"Alright, this year we are going to be focusing on things in groups, as well as on a whole. Somethings everyone will learn together, but other things, we'll focus. Natural ability plays into these things, too." When everyone agreed, he went on. "Right, well, I wasn't really planning on teaching anything today, just finding out who would show up and what groups we would have. So... I guess that's it for today, alright?"

"Same time next week?" Neville asked right away.

"Or can we do it sooner?" Ernie suggested.

Harry shrugged. "I think for now, we can meet next week, but pay attention to your coins. That's what Hermione made them for, after all."

... 

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	13. Hermione's Dentention and Halloween

Chapter Thirteen: Halloween and Hermione's Detention

Monday afternoon came a lot faster than anyone really expected, and Harry had to fight his instincts to skip the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Knowing that the Wanderer was still laid up in the hospital wing was weighing heavily on his mind as he trudged along the corridor to the large classroom that the small, elite group had been moved to.

Hermione walked with him, but one look to him told her that words were not a good idea right then. The mood had taken a considerable plunge during lunch, when Dumbledore finally announced that Professor Snape would be taking over the class until Talisien was feeling better.

Their small crowd had stopped outside the door to the classroom upon finding the door still locked. Harry felt the bulge in his pocket that he had stuck there just after lunch - a couple of Skiving Snackboxes. He knew that Hermione would know without question, but he wasn't sure if he could handle the full class with Snape or not.

"Any idea what's going on?" Neville asked quietly. The news of Talisien's temporary replacement had shaken him more than anyone else.

"Well, Talisien said that today was the day we were to bring our books to class, right?" Hermione pointed out quickly, hoping to take everyone's mind off what was to come. "So I guess we'll get to look at our books and probably write down why we chose them or something."

"So what books did you bring, Hermione?" Dean asked. "I wasn't sure what would be a good book to look at for healing..."

"Oh, I picked a simple one that looked like it had a lot of good spells," Hermione explained. "I mean, aside from the obvious Standard Book of Spells Grade Six, which has a few basic shields and protection charms, I brought Repairing Damage Caused by the Dark Arts, and one that I saw over the summer that I thought looked good, called Avoid Getting Cursed."

"You didn't borrow my copy of that, did you, 'Mione?" Harry whispered as she rummaged in her backpack to show the Repairing book to Dean and Lavender, who had crowded a little closer to get a look at it.

"Er... I guess I did. You don't mind, do you?"

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "It just means you'll have to explain it to me sometime."

"Which did you bring, anyway?" she asked, apparently forgetting about showing the healing book to either of the two in front of her.

"Just two, but I think it'll be alright," he explained. "It's two that I don't think many have seen - the book you gave me, and the Auror Training Guide."

"Good choices," she said with a smile.

The door to the classroom suddenly crashed open, revealing Snape standing there in his black robes, sneering down at the small class. "What are you all waiting for?" he demanded. "I expected the best of the Defense class to at least be able to work a simple Alohomora spell..."

No one rose to his challenge, but everyone averted their eyes carefully as they crossed into the darkened room and took a seat in the chairs that they found waiting for them this time. Hermione sat right next to Harry, knowing that he would need the support for once in the class, and Ron sat on his other side, with Luna next to him. Before he knew what had happened, it seemed that the class had taken seats surrounding Harry, as though to protect him.

He made a mental note to thank them all individually at the next DA meeting, and had a fleeting thought wondering if they had discussed it beforehand, or if they were acting on instinct.

"Right... so he said that you are the best, did he?" Snape demanded, sweeping to the front of the room carefully, looking at each of them in turn. "I fail to believe that. However, as was pointed out to me, it is not my place to reassign classes... so I will have to make do with your meager talents."

Harry felt rather than saw Hermione, Ron, and Neville - who was sitting in front of him - tense suddenly, as though preparing for an outburst, but he surpressed the urge. Knowing he was surrounded by those who would support him actually did a lot for his temper.

"What page of the text are we on, then?" Snape demanded, picking up a book from behind him and starting to flip through it. Hermione's hand was in the air at once, and he looked icily to her. "I should have expected our resident know-it-all to have a question before I even began..."

"Please, sir, but Professor Talisien has each of us using different textbooks, depending on our specific field of interest," she pointed out.

"That is utterly ridiculous," Snape said at once. "How is anyone supposed to teach when everyone has different books?" He shook his head and threw his text behind him. "So long as I am here, we will all be using this text," he declared, pulling out a black book from inside his robes. On the cover in gold lettering, it read, "Preparing for What's Out There." Hermione's hand was in the air still, and he tried to ignore it, but when she stood up he had no choice but to acknowledge her presence. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger. What is it this time?"

"Professor Snape, sir, the Wanderer gave us the option of different textbooks. You seem to be going against what he had in mind," Hermione explained quickly. "Are you sure we couldn't just use what he had suggested, while you still teach from the main text?"

"Well, Miss Granger, I am sure that his intentions are honourable, but it appears that the Wanderer has... well... 'wandered off' for now, so while I am in this class, you will abide by my rules!" he said in a louder voice, staring at her. "Is that clear?"

"Let it go, 'Mione," Harry whispered. As he did so, he couldn't help but feel it was a little ironic. Usually it was Hermione telling him to let it go. He also felt a little proud, seeing her standing up to a teacher and telling him basically outright that he was wrong. It was so something that he would have been doing, if she hadn't beaten him to it...

"But sir, we are supposed to be preparing for what's out there. We are supposed to be specializing in fields that we each feel will benefit us the most!"

"Twenty points, Miss Granger, and a detention," Snape sneered. "You are not to question my authority in class!"

The class froze as Snape assigned Hermione a detention. Everyone knew that she had never yet served a detention in her previous five years at Hogwarts, and they certainly didn't expect her to start. "But... sir..."

"Miss Granger, you will meet - "

Before Snape could tell her just where and when the detention was, though, the door to the class banged open suddenly, interrupting him. Leaning heavily in the doorframe, his green cloak weighing on his shoulders, was the Wanderer. "I believe, Severus, that she will be serving that detention with me," he said. His voice seemed strained, as though every word he spoke was costing him. "As I am the acting professor again."

"I assigned the detention, Talisien," Snape retorted.

"Indeed," Talisien agreed, walking slowly to the front to face the Potions' Master as he stood tall before him. Even though Snape was tall, the elf still seemed to tower above him. Perhaps it was just the aura he gave off... "But, as I am sure you are aware, the detentions received in class are served under the professor. I am the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, am I not?"

"You are still seriously injured," Snape pointed out.

"I am not dead. I intend to return to teaching this very moment. Thank you for your aide in this matter, Severus," Talisien said, turning away from him and sitting down on the desk behind him. It groaned under the impact - though it might have been the elf himself groaning - but in either case, Snape just stared at him for a moment before turning on a heel and striding angrily from the class, slamming the door shut behind him.

As soon as the door was shut, Talisien slumped into a chair and held onto the desk in front of him with obvious effort. "I believe I may have to dismiss class early today," he managed in a weak voice. "If you would be so kind as to stay behind, Hermione..." he said, looking to her carefully.

She stole a glance to Harry quickly, and saw that he was quite pale as he looked at the weakened elf. He noticed her gaze, and met it, nodding slowly as he stood up with the class. Without a word, he walked from the class ahead of everyone else, and was gone.

Hermione waited until the class was over before standing from her chair again and making her way to the front. Talisien raised his head to meet her, and she could see the pain in his eyes. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner, Hermione," he said softly. "I cannot just let the detention lay abandoned, though. I am sure that Severus will be watching to make sure you serve," he explained.

"I know, sir," she said. "Are you sure you are alright, though? You look terrible..."

"Thanks," he muttered sarcastically, standing slowly. "Do not worry about me, Hermione. I will survive. Please enter my office at seven o'clock this evening. I promise you that it will not be what you expect."

She found it extremely strange to watch him walk from the classroom instead of simply vanish. He must have been in more pain than he was letting on if his waywatcher skills were failing him.

On that thought, she left the class quickly to try and find Harry. She found him just outside the Gryffindor Tower. He was sitting against the wall, while Ron, Ginny, Neville, Lavender, and Luna were all standing in front of him, talking in hurried whispers.

She sat down carefully beside him. He nodded to the group. "They're all discussing how to get back at Snape," he explained.

"But you aren't?"

"I promised you that I wouldn't curse those who do you wrong," he said softly, not meeting her eye. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to. If he had made you serve the detention with him, then I would have been watching - and if he hurt you, then I would have done something terrible, I'm sure," he said with a weak smile.

"Honestly, Harry, it's just a detention," she said. At the odd look he gave her, she shrugged. "I know, I didn't want it. But, it is with Talisien, right? That makes it sort of okay," she reasoned.

"Yeah, but I really want to at least jinx him," he said with a shrug. "He shouldn't have given you a detention for that."

"I did question him..."

"But fairly," Harry pointed out. "And only because you beat me to it... Doesn't matter anyway," he added. "They're figuring out some way to get him back, don't worry."

She leaned a little closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know, Harry. But you know, there are other ways than curses..."

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her, holding her close for a moment before releasing her and standing. "I need to be alone for a bit," he explained, looking to everyone. "I'll be okay, but I need to think about things..."

Even though they all wanted to stop him, no one reached out to try.  
------------------  
Although she had desperately wanted to see Harry at least once before heading off to her detention, there had been no sign of him at supper. She had even gone so far as to ask Ron to get the Marauder's Map to see if they could find him, but apparently Ron couldn't find it. He probably had it with him.

She hesitated for a moment in front of the office that had Talisien's name written across the door. She smiled to herself at that fact. It only said Talisien. She knew, after speaking to Harry, that the Marauder's Map only showed him as thus, too.

As she reached up to knock, the door simply swung open instead. "Hello?" she called. There were a few candles lit in the room, but no torches. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, though, making shadows dance across the walls. "Talisien?"

"Talisien is as stubborn as they come, child," a soft voice said from behind her. She turned in an instant to find an elfwoman with golden hair standing there. She was wearing a simple green tunic and black pants, and had a light cloak about her shoulders. "He is resting at the moment. I assume that you must be Hermione Granger."

"Is he alright?"

The elfwoman smiled and nodded. "Of course. He just was insisting on doing too much, something I'm quite used to with him. He really should have seen the sleeping spell coming - I guess that just shows how much he needs it right now."

"You must be Fey, right?" Hermione asked, remembering all she had read about Talisien. "I mean, I see your jewelry, anyway, and I doubt any other elfwoman would be willing to even try to put him to sleep, even if it was for his own good."

"Perceptive, aren't you?" she asked as she walked into the room, the door closing behind her once she was inside. "You could make a fine waywatcher with training." She then paused and turned. "I see you are also wearing a bracelet," she pointed out. Hermione looked down quickly and saw just the barest amount showing at the edge of her robes. "Are you partaking in the elven customs, or sticking with human?"

Hermione covered the bracelet quickly, a little uncomfortable to be talking about it in front of someone she didn't really know. "Elven," she muttered.

"Ah, then that would be from Harry. Protection and commitment to one another... I understand," she said softly, sitting down in one of the two chairs by the fire. As she did so, the fire dimmed a bit, so it wouldn't get too hot. "I will say no more, child, do not worry."

After a moment of awkward silence, Hermione took the chair opposite Fey and looked to her. "So, what are we doing for the next few hours?"

Fey frowned as she looked her over. "I'm not sure. Is there anything you would like to do?"

"Isn't this a detention?" Hermione pointed out. "Aren't I supposed to be punished?"

"Did you do something wrong?"

"I questioned a teacher."

"That would be a no, then," Fey replied easily. She then held out her hand. "May I see your wand?"

Although more than a little confused at the request, Hermione held out her wand and Fey took it gently. "Ah... yes... oak... Talisien would be impressed," she said softly. "With... I believe a feather from a Phoenix, no?"

"That's right," Hermione said.

"So, you channel your magics through the powers of a phoenix," Fey said slowly, handing back the wand. "And not through your own core."

"I couldn't really find any books telling me how," Hermione said with a shrug. "Not that I didn't want to, I spent hours in the library after Talisien said it was, indeed, possible, but no luck at all."

"Would you like to learn?"

"Honestly?"

Fey smiled and sat forward, setting Hermione's wand on the ground between them. "What can you feel about me?"

Hermione wasn't exactly sure what Fey was asking, but she sat forward as well. A chance to learn about wandless magic... "I don't know," she admitted.

"Close your eyes and look at me, then."

_Close your eyes _and _look?_ Shaking her head slightly, she closed her eyes and concentrated. If Fey had suggested it to her, it must be possible. On that thought, something strange suddenly came into focus. She could see energy sitting in front of her, bright, red, unkindled, unbridled energy. The more she focused on it, the more random it seemed to become.

All of a sudden, the energy spiked, and she opened her eyes in surprise. Fey was holding a ball of flame in front of her. "I assume you saw this form, then?"

"Was that what I was seeing? What about all the red energy beforehand?"

"That is my energy. Look upon yourself in the same light," she suggested. Closing her eyes again, Hermione looked down at her hands and concentrated. After a moment or two passed, she found white and blue energy passing through her hands. As she followed it, she knew she was looking at the centre of the energy when she looked at where her heart was.

"It's blue and white," she explained. "I actually have this energy in me?"

"You are a witch, aren't you? You possess the ability to do magics. It does not come from your wand... that just focuses it. The magics are your own."

"So my wand focuses the energy?"

"It also provides a safe passage for it. Wandless magics for humans is a dangerous thing, Hermione Granger," Fey warned her. "Too much of an energy drain could kill you. Even to an elf, too much will destroy us. That is why many elves who are trained in magics also carry a sword. The risk of draining too much is very high."

"But elves can't use wands?"

"We would never subject our trees to such things," Fey said kindly. "I understand your need for it, do not be concerned, but elves will never be able to use wands because of our connection to the trees."

"Isn't there anything you can do?"

"Some of us are fortunate enough to come across Ancient relics," Fey explained. "These relics act something like a wand, in that they provide energy for us to use. They also prevent us from draining too much all at once. They are not channels, though, and are usually just worn."

"Talisien must have one, then."

"Of course... though he has lost it more than he should have..."

"Do you have one? Could I see it?"

Fey smiled and shook her head. "I do not carry a relic," she explained. "My magics are different... the fires that I can use do not draw from my energy, but from the air around me. It is a very rare gift, one that gave me the title that I am sure you are aware of."

"The Fire Elf."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, during which time Hermione picked up her wand and pocketed it again. "Could you teach me how to use my wandless magics?"

"Do you plan on overusing them?"

"Of course not. I just want to know how in case I need to."

"Have a need to do it, and draw on your energy," Fey explained. "Humans need both the need and the energy. You must justify it to yourself before you can use it. They can also do almost anything needed, if the desire is strong enough." The elfwoman then stood up slowly and looked to Hermione. "I believe that is all I will teach you about it. You should know what to do when you need it. For now, though, I believe you should return to your dorm."

"Thanks, Fey," Hermione said as she paused at the door. "I hope Talisien gets better soon," she added as she pushed it open.

"He will, child." Fey looked to one side of the room, as though looking through the wall itself. "He is within the forest now. It should help him heal a little faster."  
----------------------  
Hermione didn't mention her detention to anyone when she returned to the common room later that night. She was pleased to find Harry sitting there, as though he had been waiting for her, but when she sat next to him, neither said a word. It was a comfortable silence, though, and she was heartened considerably when he took her hand in his own and gave it a little squeeze before heading up to bed.

The rest of September passed fairly quickly, with the only other notable thing being Slytherin's defeat of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Harry still hadn't gotten his broom back by the time the end of October had arrived, despite asking about it a few times.

The DA was going quite well, too. Kailyn was the only new recruit to have joined, though Harry had been a little hesitant about letting the first year in. Talisien had approached him on the matter before the young girl had, though, and Harry didn't feel like he could deny the elf after all he had done for him already.

Those who hadn't shown up to the first meeting had passed back their coins, and Harry ended up owling the coins back to Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, just so they would have them if they needed them.

Harry caught Hermione just before going to the Halloween feast and gave her a quick hug. "Remember, this is for you," he whispered into her ear before the two separated and headed down to the Great Hall. It hadn't really been necessary to whisper, given that they were alone in the Halls. She didn't know exactly what he was talking about, and he didn't reply at all to any questions about it, but he did look quite pleased with himself.

About halfway through the feast, after shooing away several of the decorative bats from her meal, Hermione noticed Harry had set his utensils down and was watching the staff table carefully. She followed his gaze just as a loud poof of smoke erupted from one end, and a few students screamed in surprise until the laughter started.

Snape had turned into a gigantic yellow canary with purple poka-dots and flaming tail feathers. After squawking around for almost ten minutes, his feathers started to wilt and he returned to normal. Glaring at the students, he stalked out without another word.

Hermione noticed that Dumbledore had very carefully been looking in another direction during the event.

"Harry?" she whispered.

"Just a little payback for what he did to you," he whispered, referring to her detention. "You gave me the idea, actually, when you said there were other ways than cursing."

"You did that, Harry?" Ron asked in surprise. "Blimey, mate, how'd you get him to eat whatever it was? I don't think I've seen that in Fred and George's line!"

Harry smiled and leaned back. "Well, when I contacted them and told them what I was after, they promised me something extra special to give to him. They wanted to pay him back for a few things too, and were glad that I was going to do it for them."

"But how did you get him to eat anything from them, Harry?" Hermione asked. "I mean, you weren't caught, were you? That could have been really foolish, Harry..."

He simply shrugged. "A Weasley Twin secret," he explained. "They made me swear on my parents' graves not to tell another soul," he whispered after a moment, breaking his eye contact with all of them and looking carefully at the table.

"They brought your parents into it?" Ron demanded in surprise.

"Said they figured it the best way to make sure I wasn't going to tell. They felt bad about it, but some secrets need keeping, I guess."

When Ron turned back to his meal, Hermione looked around and saw that no one was looking to her at that moment, and so she gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. When he looked to her, she smiled. "Thanks, Harry."

-------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**The Shadows**


	14. Tragedy at the Ministry

Chapter Fourteen: Tragedy at the Ministry 

The first Monday of November started out very much like every Monday did. After finishing breakfast, Ron and Luna would head towards Flitwick's classroom, and Harry and Hermione would take the long, dreaded road down to the dungeons... and the Potions class.

They arrived to find several pieces of what looked like grass spread out on each of the desks. Each desk had a large silver caldron set up on it over an eternally burning, waterproof flame.

Harry and Hermione took seats together near the back of the class. Before Harry could reach out to touch any of the grass, the door banged open again to reveal Snape. "This morning, class, you will be brewing what will easily be the most difficult and tedious potion you will ever have the pleasure of creating. The Headmaster seems to think that you are all up to the task, but I have taken several precautions to ensure that no potion is done improperly. You will find directions..." he paused, and then leveled his wand at the blackboard. "Here. Given that this potion takes one full lunar cycle to prepare, I suggest you begin immediately. Do not waste any of the plant in front of you - it is worth more than many of your insignificant hides."

His eyes were trained on Harry as he finished, but Harry firmly kept his eyes on the board so as not to meet the sneer. "Phoylasid..." Hermione breathed, picking up one of the blades of what Harry had assumed was grass. "This really is rare," she whispered, looking back to the boards again.

"Let's get started, then," he suggested wearily, pulling out his kit to find his knife. The grass had to be cut to exact lengths before any liquid was to be added to the cauldron - though he wasn't sure how it would be able to tell, he knew it best to follow the directions carefully.

The two worked in seamless silence for half of the class, until Harry made the mistake of looking up just as Snape looked over to him. He caught his Professor's eye for a moment, and suddenly found that he could not look away. Snape was pushing against his mind, searching for something, something he wanted desperately.

Unable to move, he fronted everything he could remember about Rozan's lessons, trying as hard as he could to block the professor from entering his mind like he had so many times last year. It was only with Hermione's touch on his arm that let him break the hold and look away.

"Everything alright, Harry?" she whispered as she started stirring the potion.

"Snape was just trying to do what he accused me of earlier," he whispered, picking up the vial of boomslang juice and three hairs of a pegasus to add after Hermione finished five complete rotations of stirring. From there, it was only a matter of stirring for ten minutes and letting it sit for four days before the next steps could be taken.

"He didn't!" Hermione said in a loud hiss.

"Miss Granger, that will be five points from Gryffindor," Snape said in a cold voice. "I suggest, Potter, that you learn to control your little girlfriend, before she costs you even more."

"Don't, Harry," she said quickly, grabbing at his arm before he could even look up. He wrenched himself free and stood up in his chair to face Snape anyway.

"With all due respect, sir, I always thought that controlling people was against the law. One of the Unforgivable Curses, isn't it?" he said dryly. He was instantly aware of a complete lack of movement in the class, and he looked to Hermione quickly to remind her to keep stirring. She kept her eyes on him, but began again anyway.

"You must have misunderstood, Potter," Snape said as he stood from his desk and took several steps towards the back of the room. "I would never imply that such a famous celebrity wizard as yourself would ever resort to such methods. Of course, you would probably figure out a way to _get away with that, too_, wouldn't you?"

"Let's pray you never have to find out, sir," Harry said, matching the frost in Snape's voice almost perfectly. As soon as his words died down, he felt a sudden flare of pain in his forehead. It was a pain that he had almost gotten used to not feeling, but he knew what it meant. His scar burning only ever meant one thing. As his eyes locked with Snape's once more, he glared at the Professor. "Sir, I believe I need to see the Headmaster," he said as slowly and as steadily as he could. "It involves something that you understand."

Snape matched his glare for a moment before a flicker of understanding passed before his eyes. "Not as reckless as before, Potter?" Snape asked coldly, turning his back on the class. "Not going to 'play-the-hero' again?"

Harry closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. He knew that he couldn't afford to yell at the professor - he doubted he would survive the detention that such an act would give him, and he needed to see the headmaster before any more time had passed. He looked to Hermione for help, and when he met her eyes, he felt an instant calm again. He had noticed it a few times recently... whenever his emotions were getting out of control, a single glance from her seemed to reel them in again. He would have to talk to her about it later.

"Indeed... sir."

"Have you and your... partner... finished today's part of the potion, then?"

Harry looked back to Hermione again, and she nodded, just having released the stirring stick. They just had to clean up, and then it would be ready to sit for four days before the next part of the process was to begin.

"Yes."

"Then get out of my sight, Potter. You too, Granger. And ten points from Gryffindor each for disturbing the class."

As soon as they were out of the classroom, Harry reached for Hermione's hand and held it tightly. She looked to him in surprise, and found that he was practically shaking. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly. The look in his emerald eyes told her all she needed to know.

No further words were spoken between the two of them as they released each other's hands and made their way quickly through the corridors to reach the Headmaster's office. Stopping before the stone gargoyle, Harry was just about to open his mouth to start guessing at passwords when it rolled aside to reveal the spiraled staircase.

"Fawkes told me you were coming, Harry," Dumbledore said softly from behind the desk as they pushed open the wooden door at the top of the stairs. "And Professor Snape also spoke to me moments ago about an outburst in class..." As the two sat down in chairs across from his, he looked to them over his half moon spectacles. "Might I assume that he is putting too much emphasis on certain points of your... conversation?"

"Sir, my scar started hurting when I was talking to Snape."

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Right, right, whatever," Harry said quickly. "Look, I haven't felt anything from it all term, ever since Rozan came to visit during the summer. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"I have never assumed to be able to read Voldemort's mind, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "But I suspect if you are feeling it through all the protections that you have managed to build up over the past several months, then he is trying desperately hard to break through. The fact he is even trying surprises me, given what happened the last time he was in your mind..."

Harry couldn't help but shudder at the memory of the pain, the wish of death. He felt Hermione's hand on his arm again, trying to calm him, but even it didn't have its usual effect. "If he's trying so hard to get to me, what am I supposed to do? How can I stop him if he's determined to make the connection again?"

"You have power that Voldemort does not, nor will ever have, Harry."

"That's not true!" Harry objected. "I mean, watching you two duel made me realise that! There's no way I'll ever be able to duel like that!"

The familiar twinkle in the Headmaster's brilliant blue eyes faded a little, and he stood to look down to Harry. "You must be able to believe in your own abilities, Harry. Everyone who is given two feet, is given them for a reason." He then smiled to him and leaned against the table, looking back and forth between the two for a moment. "Is there... anything else you wish to tell me, Harry?"

"Sir, why are we making the Drought of Stability in Potions' class?" Hermione asked when it became obvious that Harry wasn't going to say anything else.

Dumbledore actually sighed as he sat back down. "Because, Hermione, I fear that we may have a need for it." He reached out with his wand and tapped a silver instrument on his desk lightly, sending it spinning very quickly on the spot. "We are in the middle of a terrible war."

Harry stood then, and Hermione stood right next to him quickly. There was a lot more that she wanted to ask the Headmaster about, but obviously Harry wanted to leave, and she wasn't about to leave him alone right after Voldemort tried to attack him again.

"I suggest that you forgo Charms today," Dumbledore said softly. "In fact, Dobby would be delighted to serve you lunch early, I'm sure..."

It was another silent meal, interrupted only by Dobby's persistence in trying to offer them more food or drink. With a brief glance to each other just outside the Great Hall, they both walked in as the other students started to arrive for lunch. Even if they had already eaten, explaining to everyone where they were was not on either of their top ten lists of things to do.

"Hey, Potter and his little girlfriend finally decide to return!" Malfoy's call greeted them as they entered. "Skipping class to find a broom cupboard, were you?"

No one was quite sure where it came from, which is probably why there was no punishment handed down, but suddenly Malfoy was struck in the chest by several different spells all at once, which ended up being a mix of the tickling charm, the jelly legs curse, and the itching spells counter-curse which - when used as an attack and not a counter - was actually worse than the original curse. Simple, weak spells that Harry had gone over in the DA when it was just starting up again.

That was probably the only reason that Harry didn't try to curse him on his own - his friends had beaten him to it. His real friends. Members of the DA that he trusted. When the two sat down next to Ron, he was already stuffing his face, but looked up right away. "Wha's up?" he asked through his mouthful.

"I had Potions this morning... you have to ask?" Harry muttered as he sat down heavily.

"Julia Carmicheal is saying that you accused Snape of suggesting you use the Imperius Curse on Hermione," Luna said dreamily as she came up to join them at the Gryffindor table. She rested a hand on Ron's shoulder, and then sat down next to him.

The reason she rested the hand on his shoulder was he had suddenly started coughing violently as though trying to keep from choking. "You didn't?" Ron demanded, a large smile on his face. "I bet that didn't go over too well, did it?"

As Harry groaned and set his head down on the table, Hermione leaned around him and poked Luna in the shoulder. She quickly looked from Hermione to Harry, and then back to Ron again. "Ronald... would you be willing to walk me over to my common rooms? I appear to have left my books there."

"Uh..." Ron said, hastily shovelling a few more mouthfuls of pie into his mouth. "Sure thing, Luna." He pushed his mostly finished, completely demolished piece of peach crumble pie away from him and stood up. He clapped Harry on the back and then turned to Luna again. Hermione mouthed a silent thank you to Luna, who simply nodded and walked away with Ron.

"Harry..." Hermione said softly from beside him, making him look up to her from the table. "Would you mind doing something for me?"

"What, 'Mione?" he asked. He sounded very tired and listless suddenly, almost as much as he had at the end of last year, after everything had been said and done.

"Are you hungry right now?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Fine, fine, poor question, I know you're never hungry after getting a vision or anything like that. And we did just eat some anyway, though I noticed that you didn't eat very much," she said quickly, but stopped when she realised she was rambling. "Look, could you try to do your mind exercises again?"

"'Mione, it's already over," Harry said. "I mean, if he's trying everything he can to break through, how am I supposed to be able to fight that?"

"Could you just try?"

"What do you think I've been doing?" he asked in a whisper. "I'm not just going to let him in again... not after what happened the last time. Look at what I did, look at how easily he fooled me, and made me lead Sirius to his death!"

"I'm not attacking you, Harry, please remember that..."

Harry sighed and turned so he was looking at the table again. "I know, 'Mione, I know. I'm sorry. I just... don't know if I can do this or not. I can't go through fighting with him again. It hurt so badly the last time... I remember begging to die..."

Although shocked by the news, Hermione knew it wasn't the time to talk to him about it. There would be plenty of time later when he was feeling better. She sat there with a hand on his back, rubbing in soft circles for several minutes until she leaned in closer to him. "Look, I'll talk to Talisien after class, to see what he suggests. Surely the elves know something that could help too... sound good?"

Harry only nodded from his position at the table. He didn't even look up when Ginny sat right next to him, and Dean, Neville, and Colin sat across from him. "I don't really want to put stock into what Malfoy's saying, but is it true?" Ginny asked quietly, looking from both Harry to Hermione and back again.

"What part?" Harry groaned.

"Well, it's not hard to imagine you telling Snape off... if he said you weren't, it would be obvious he was lying, right mate?" Dean asked with a grin as he poured himself a goblet of pumpkin juice, and pouring several more for the others, passing them out as he went. The one he set in front of Harry was not acknowledged, but the other ones were.

"No, the part about you two skipping charms to go snogging in some empty classroom," Colin said softly. "And before you ask if I'm prying again, Harry, I'm really not, I just wanted to warn you what was being said."

"Why would you possibly believe we were doing that?" Hermione asked almost instantly.

"You two are going out, aren't you?" Ginny asked in an almost sour tone.

Hermione stole a quick glance down to Harry, as well as making sure subtly that her bracelet wasn't showing, and then shook her head. "No, I'm just worried about him. Ginny, that... thing... that happened last year happened again in Potions."

"You aren't dating, then?"

"What thing?" Dean and Colin asked at the same time as Ginny spoke.

"You've seen it too, Dean... last year, when he'd wake up, remember?" Hermione asked quietly, ignoring Ginny's question. She didn't really want to lie to her friend, but she didn't think Harry would want the news spread around anyway... even if they did seem to be making it rather obvious on occasion if Ginny was asking. She'd have to have a talk with her friend before too long about why she was trying to help Harry - she knew she could make something up that would put the younger girl at ease.

"His scar again, then?" Dean asked in a hushed voice, leaning in close with Colin. "I thought that was all sorted out after... whatever it was happened, happened, right?"

"You don't have to talk about it like I'm not here..." Harry said in a cold voice. As he spoke, the goblet of pumpkin juice in front of him started shaking, and then spilled forward, away from him and into a plate of meat. "I'm sitting _right here_!" he said angrily.

"We know that, Harry," Hermione said quickly. "And we weren't trying to bother you, but we're your friends. We're just trying to help, and they can't help if they don't know what's going on, can they?"

"I don't want to talk about this right now," Harry said coolly after a moment of silence. He shook off Hermione's hand on his back and got up quickly, slinging his bag over his shoulder and stalking off towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom.

"That's a new record, I reckon," Dean said almost happily, sitting back again and looking to each of them in turn as he swirled the remains of his juice arond in his goblet before downing it in a single gulp. "I mean, he lasted more than two months before losing it at one of us... a new record for him, right? A even that wasn't as bad as it could've been..."

"He's been through rough times, Dean!" Ginny said harshly. "It's not surprising he's got a temper!"

"I know," Dean said. "I know. And I wasn't complaining, was I? I thought I was joking about it... besides, Harry's Harry. If he didn't let lose at one of us sooner or later, he'd probably do worse to Snape in the next class, right?"

Hermione stood from the table slowly and looked to the exit of the Great Hall. "Look, I don't think he should be alone right now. If he gets attacked again by Voldemort - oh honestly, grow up - then he's going to need someone nearby to help him." They had all jumped when she said the name of the dark wizard.

"Right," Colin said, standing. "I'll get the others."

"I'll go to him now," Ginny suggested.

"I want to go, too," Hermione admitted. At Ginny's odd look, she shrugged. "I've seen it happen a few times, remember? I'm not about to let him suffer alone."

Wordlessly, the two made their way to the classroom, and found Harry sitting inside already. Ron and Luna were also there, as was Talisien, who appeared to be explaining something to both Ron and Luna about a counter curse to a complex curse they had spoken about briefly in the last class.

Behind Hermione and Ginny came the rest of the class, with Colin and Dean in the lead. They all looked to Hermione, and then to Harry, and nodded briefly to her before taking their usual positions in the class.

Hermione stood close to Harry tentatively for a moment before he looked to her, a pained expression on his face. Under the pretense of doing up the side of his bag, she leaned in close and whispered into his ear. "I'm really sorry, Harry..."

He caught her hand as she withdrew and gave it a gentle squeeze, but said nothing in response as he released it again just as quickly.

"Excellent, you are all here a little early..." Talisien said suddenly, looking to the class of fourteen, his eyes resting a moment longer on Harry's dejected form. "In that case, we are going to start today with a group lesson, focusing on a shielding spell. These magics are quite a bite more advanced than many of you will be used to, and is used to deflect Dark Magic."

"Can you show us first, Talisien?" Lavender asked quietly from her side with Dean and Hannah nodding beside her. Talisien smiled to them and nodded.

"I should have expected you three to be the most interested in this, as it is a protection spell. I'm sure at least one, if not more of you have read about this spell already, but..." he trailed off as he held up his hands. With a mild flash of light, a large silver shield appeared before him. It looked like a cross between a mirror and a window, as it was see through, but also reflected the image back at them.

When he lowered his hands, he looked over to Lavender again. "This is one of the single most powerful shield spells you will find, but you must do it properly. If done wrong, then rather than reflecting the Dark Magic, it will absorb it, taking the spell into your body. This does not mean the spell will strike you... trust in the fact that you would prefer to be hit with it before absorbing it, and I will tell you no more. This shield cannot reflect one spell, but I hardly need to tell anyone here what that is, do I?"

"The Killing Curse, sir," Cho said immediately.

"Good, ten points to Ravenclaw." Talisien then vanished and reappeared at the back of the room. "The incantation for this spell... who knows it?"

Harry kept his hand down, despite the fact that he had come across the spell over the summer. It was on the plans to be practiced in the DA in January... he would have to redesign those lessons to take into account that some of them already knew it.

"Scutulatus contego," Hermione offered after a moment of silence. "It involves a twisted wand movement, much like a corkscrew, I suppose." At the odd looks she received from many of the students who had not grown up with muggle tools, she sighed. "Like a top moving forward," she said.

"Have you ever cast the spell?" Talisien asked.

"Not yet," she admitted.

"Then try it now, so we can see."

Hermione closed her eyes to the fact that everyone was watching her this time. She never minded being the first to successfully cast a spell... but it was an entirely different matter when the class just expected it to be perfect because of who she was.

Lifting her wand, she drove it forward in front of her slowly. "Scutulatus contego," she said in a commanding voice. An instant later, the shimmering shield appeared before her, but it seemed to be impossible to see through, unlike the shield Talisien had summoned earlier.

"You must be more progressive, Hermione," Talisien said kindly. "Still, to get that much on your first attempt... ten points to Gryffindor. Twenty points to the first person who conjures it properly."

As the room started to echoed with cries of "scutulatus contego," as well as the occasional "scutulas contega," which resulted in a funny looking green blob forming before the wizard or witch who mispronounced the spell, Harry's wand fell to the ground silently as he balked forward to one knee and pressed a hand against his forehead.

His scream a couple of minutes later did not go so unnoticed.  
------------------  
The Atrium in the Ministry of Magic. He knew that was where he was standing. Wizards and witches of all kinds were running all around him, screaming and pointing their wands at him.

He laughed coldly as he let lose a barrage of green curses, dropping enemies like flies. He walked forward deliberately slowly, and stopped in front of the wizard cowering behind the desk.

"Aren't you going to ask to register my wand, Eric?" he sneered in a cold, high voice that was not his own. When no answer came immediately, his shoulders shrugged and then his wand was pointing at the wizard. "Avada Kedavra!"

The scream of energy had not even begun to fade by the time he entered the lift. He stopped at each floor he came to, sending out a wave of fire at each stop, until he arrived at the top floor.

"Reducio!" The door in front of him crumble to dust as the spell struck it, and he was met by six Aurors on the other side. "Do you really think to stand before me now?" Waving his wand like a whip, three of the Aurors were flung through the air, crashing hard into the walls before coming to a stop. With the next wave, the last three standing were wrapped with what appeared to be ropes of flame. He gave a hard pull on his wand, and those standing in his way managed to get off one last scream before burning to ash.

As he blasted aside the door at the end of the hall, he found the wizard he had been looking for, still wearing his lime green bowler hat, and clutching at his wand desperately, pointing it at him. "Please... no... I'll give you anything you want! Just don't kill me! Please!"

He shook his head slowly, a cold, cruel laugh emenating from his lips. "As thankful as I am, Minister Fudge, at your inability to react to any situation and how greatly you eased my return to power, I have a need to kill you. I'm sure you understand... I will do you the favour of letting you live a few minutes longer than your Aurors, though..."

"Avada Kedavra!" Fudge yelled wildly. He simply stepped to the side and let the doorframe burst into flames at the power of the spell before responding with a spell of his own.

"Crucio!" Fudge's wand rolled to the ground as he screamed at the pain that shot through him like a thousand hot knives digging into the skin. When the spell was finally lifted, he was left quivering on the floor. "There... I allowed you to live longer. Now I must end it." The scream of energy that followed struck Fudge square in the chest, and the Minister's head struck the ground hard behind him as his body went limp.

He then turned and held up his wand to the doorway, sealing it with a thick red barrier. "You see, Potter? Nothing can stop me now. Even though they were prepared, they could not stand in my way..." the voice sneered in the empty office. "Nothing... even Dumbledore will not stand before me again."

"I would like to give you a sporting chance, but that's really not my style... but I know something that is. I do hope you enjoyed your Christmas last year, Potter. This year will be much, much worse. Remember to say goodbye to your friends before they leave you. You will not see them again."

"Then, in the new year, I intend to come for you."

The pain was building quickly in his head, and he was forced to close his eyes and concentrate on maintaining the link. If he was in pain, he knew that Potter must be as well. The longer he could hold out, the worse off the boy would be in the end.  
--------------------  
"Stand aside, Hermione!" Talisien ordered, appearing instantly next to Harry. When Hermione did not move right away, and several of the other students actually took a couple of steps closer, he looked back to them all. "Get away, now!"

He waved a hand towards them, flipping them all to their backs as he caught Harry and pushed him to the ground, forcing him to his back as well. When Hermione started forward again to try and help, he looked to her harshly and pushed in the air with his free hand again. She was sent reeling, and was pressed up against the wall. When she tried to get up to return, she found the spell had not yet worn off, and she was stuck against the stone masonry.

Talisien had one hand above Harry's face at this point, and was muttering quickly and frantically under his breath. An odd glow was starting to surround him when he suddenly cursed in a language that none of them recognized and pulled his hand away as though it had been burned.

The silver dagger that he had shown them on the first day of class appeared in his left hand suddenly. "You will not take him, Dark Lord!" he said fiercely, kneeling over him again quickly and returning his right hand to above Harry's face once more. When Harry cried out in pain again and started convulsing, Talisien's voice got louder as he continued the spell. "Silit hur merodan atani leif jilark. Le wer vekod kare xiter shiecital!" The dagger flashed brightly as he drew it higher into the air.

"No! Stop!" Hermione screamed from the other side of the room.

"You'll kill him!" several other voices echoed.

"Can't you save him some other way?" Ron demanded angrily, pushing himself off the ground and taking a single step towards the elf hovering over his fallen friend.

Talisien looked back to them, and his brown eyes rested on Hermione. "This is the only way to help him. I'm sorry," he said softly. "Be gone, Voldemort!"

As the blade shot down, several screams sounded, and then Hermione knew no more as her mind brought her into blissful unconsciousness rather than face the horrible truth.

--------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**The Shadows**


	15. Against His Nature

Chapter Fifteen: Against his Nature 

_Mayhem in the Ministry_

_Around 1:20 on the third day of November, the Ministry of Magic was attacked by a force or forces unknown. The person behind the attacks is believed to be You-Know-Who, the dark wizard whom the Ministry confirms has returned to power. In the wake of the attack, the Ministry has lost eight Aurors, three Unspeakables, and several other witches and wizards of various ranks._

_The most shocking news, however, is that the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is dead. It appears that this was the main intent of the attack, as with the death of the Minister, the terrifying dark wizard apparated to places unknown._

The news from the Daily Prophet had been posted all over the school, and Harry felt sick to his stomach as he read the one posted just outside his classroom. He had woken up about half an hour ago, and when Madame Pomfrey turned her back, he had slipped out. He supposed it was for the best that he woke when he did - she told him that, except during classes, there were always people surrounding him, doing whatever they could to help.

Not bothering to read the rest of the article, he looked in the open door, where he saw the rest of his class working on shielding charms still. Few of them seemed to be able to focus very well, and many were sparing glances towards the door after every attempt. Even the Wanderer seemed a little preoccupied.

He pulled back quickly before any of them saw him. The weight in his chest and heart was more than he thought he could bare. As fast as he could, he slipped away and up to the seventh floor of the castle. He looked for a moment to the painting of Barnabas the Barmy, the wizard who was being clubbed by mountain trolls, and felt a twinge of envy for a split second.

He stepped into the Room of Requirement and set a sealed letter on the desk. As he walked away from the room and started down the stairs to the second floor, he pulled out his gold galleon. With a brief thought, he closed his eyes and set the meeting time for that day. He did not leave a time - any of them who felt it would leave class immediately, knowing that he was awake again.

He had no idea what had happened, exactly, in the week that he had been out. Madame Pomfrey had been kind enough to tell him how long he was out, but nothing more. He checked his pockets one last time, and found the blue stone still in the box, the golden snitch that was enchanted as a portkey, and the old mirror. Clasping his wand firmly in his hand and closing his eyes to the inevitability of it all, Harry pushed open the door that he was next to and disappeared inside.

... 

"Gimme that," Ron said, his face pale after hearing Hermione read the brief note that was sitting on the desk. Everyone in the DA had gathered already, and Hermione had been elected to read the note to everyone. "Blah, blah... don't know what's going on... Sometimes you have to know when to act... it's all my fault... Bugger Harry!" he cursed, throwing the note on the ground. "What in the bloody hell do you think you're trying to pull?"

"Ronald," Luna said softly, picking up the note to scan it herself. "Please watch your language." She looked down to the parchment, closed her eyes, and then handed it back to Hermione, who had sat down on the edge of the desk and was looking more lost than anyone could ever remember seeing her. She wasn't alone, either - almost half the DA were looking confused and almost scared with Harry's declaration that he could no longer help them. "Anyone know where he could have gone?"

"Talisien might know," Kailyn offered, moving to the door. "I'll go get him. He could help us look if not... I doubt anyone else in the castle would be able to find him as quickly."

"Right then," Ron said firmly, nodding to her as she left. "Somebody should tell Dumbledore and McGonagall... it sounds like he's planning on leaving here for good, and they should be warned. They'll know how to stop him from leaving the grounds."

"No," Hermione said quickly, looking up and taking a deep breath as she forced herself into action. "No, we can't let the other teachers know. When they find him, they'll give him a month of detentions!" Sniffing slightly as she pulled herself off the desk, she looked around. "No, we can look for him ourselves. Who here knows about the secret passages in the castle?"

"Fred and George showed me all of them last year," Ginny offered. "And they told me the passwords for each, too. I'll find him."

"Good, you take Curses and Charms, and split up to search each of them," Hermione suggested.

"What about us?" Susan Bones asked. "We're not just going to let you search on your own. Even if he can summon a patronus, there are still things out there that could hurt him pretty badly. We need to start doing a thorough sweep."

"Alright," Hermione admitted. "You take everyone in Counter Curses but Ron and everyone in Protection who's still here to start the sweep. Start in the northwest tower and move down."

"Right," Susan said.

Luna hesitated for a moment, and then gave Ron a kiss on the lips and ducked out with the others, muttering something about checking the Ravenclaw common rooms and trying to get more help to search from some artifact that her father had given her.

"Everything alright, Hermione?" Ron asked quietly.

"Of course not, Ron!" Hermione said sharply. "Harry's gone and done something stupid, and then he decides to lock us out again. How would that ever be alright?"

"Fine, fine," Ron said quickly. "Look, fighting isn't going to help things, right? We can have our usual row later, once we find Harry. For now, why did you want me to stay behind."

"I need you to go to Harry's trunk and get the Map," she said.

"Of course!" Ron said, slapping his forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?"

He left running before Hermione could answer. Left alone, she started to pace up and down the room, glancing at the foeglass every so often as she had always seen Harry do in the meetings all year.

"Hermione," a soft voice said from the entrance. She turned in an instant as Talisien pushed the door open, Kailyn right behind him. "Kailyn has told me what has happened. Have you any idea where he might have gone?"

"I'm not a mind reader, Talisien!" she snapped.

"I am aware of that," he said in a calm voice as he brought the hood to his cloak down. The gesture seemed so out of place that it calmed Hermione for a moment. "No, I simply meant that, as his close friend, you would be more privy to places in the castle he might chose to hide in, correct?"

"I can't think of many, though," she whispered.

Talisien took another step towards her, and held out a hand to her. Clasped firmly in his grip was his silver dagger, still in the brown leather sheath. Across the sheath was gold embroidery, but Hermione just looked at it blankly.

"I know you will find him," he said with a smile. "And when you do, I need you to give this to him. When it erected a barrier around him, shielding him from Voldemort's mind attack, it chose him. He will be forever safe from further intrusion if he keeps this close to him."

Hermione took it hesitantly, looking carefully at the weapon in her hands. "What makes you so sure I can find him?"

"Let's just say that my wife is more observant that even I am," he said, a twinkle in his brown eyes as he met her own. With a small nod, he turned and put his hood back up. "Kailyn tells me that Harry left a note that asked you not to follow him, am I correct?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "But..."

Talisien cut her off before she could say anything else. "I will not go against his wishes and try to track him, then," he said. "You and your friends know him well enough to break his request, but he is still just a student to me, and I will not break that bond."

"Couldn't you at least do something, to help point us in the right direction? You could find him, if you wanted to, couldn't you?"

"Of course he could," Kailyn said at once. "I've seen him track waywatchers before... waywatchers who are never seen by any elf unless they wish to be. He can find even them. Surely he could find Harry, too."

"But like I said, I will not." He looked over his shoulder to Hermione as he reached the door. "Do not forget to ask his friends, Hermione. All of his friends..."

Ron returned just as Talisien left, and pointed after him. "Is he going to start looking?"

"No," Hermione said, still a little bitter despite his explanation. "He's not."

"I'm going to go join one of the teams searching," Kailyn offered. "My skills may not be as good as granddad's, but they are better than most of the people here!"

"Could you send a few people back when you get there?" Hermione suggested. Kailyn nodded and was gone moments later.

"We needed his help," Ron said, sitting on the desk and looking to Hermione. "Because it looks like Harry was actually one step ahead of you this time, cause he's got the map." She nodded, but said nothing. Sighing, Ron went on. "By the way, I think it would have made better sense to split the groups up, so everyone had a protection, charms, curse and counter curse member. I think that was Harry's intent, wasn't it?"

Hermione looked to him in surprise, but had to admit that he was right. "I guess all that time of playing chess really helped you, didn't it?"

"I know tactics," Ron said with a shrug. He then leaned in a little closer. "We'll find him, you know. He might have been one step ahead, but how long do you really think he can hide from all of us? Ginny and I have Fred and George's knowledge of this castle to back us up, too..."

Luna walked into the room the next moment before Hermione could reply, and was followed by Neville and Lavender. She walked up next to Ron and linked her hand with one of his free ones, shaking her head as she did so. "It was no good."

"Why did you call us back, Hermione?" Neville asked. "Do you have a lead?"

"Talisien wouldn't help us look," Hermione replied softly. "But I think he gave us a clue... and I think I just figured out what it means. I thought a group of us should go down together, though."

"Dangerous, is it?"

"We may have to go into the Forbidden Forest to find who we need."

... 

Rozan's blue and white fur stood out in the green fields as the group approached Hagrid's Hut. The time wolf was standing facing them, as though he had been expecting them for quite some time. That made it apparent that the trip to the forest would not be necessary right away, anyway.

_Be calm, children,_ Rozan's voice sounded as they approached. Although in many cases, they each would have been insulted to be considered a child, being called so by a time wolf that could be over several thousand years old didn't bother them. _Your minds are in turmoil._

"Of course they are, Rozan. I'm sure you've heard by now what's going on, right?"

_The Wanderer did stop by here,_ Rozan admitted. _But I should tell you now that I will not betray Harry's confidence in me. He knows that I can find him wherever he goes, after we shared so much time working in his mind. He knows this, and still trusts to hide, so I can not help you._

"Great, another dead end," Hermione muttered.

"C'mon, Hermione, we'll find him. He can't have left school grounds yet, right? He left most of his clothes... actually all his clothes but what he was wearing. He even left his Firebolt with Flitwick!" Ron pointed out.

"He's strong, too," Lavender said gently. "He'll return when he's good and ready, I think. I mean, Merlin knows he's not going to be having an easy time being away from you." At Ron's startled glance, she went on hastily. "Either of you. Or some of us, too. He enjoys leading the DA, doesn't he?"

"So you're just giving up, then?" Hermione asked heatedly. "Just letting him run away? How do you know he's not going to just leave and never come back? I mean, as soon as he leaves school grounds he could be killed! You read the article in the Profit, didn't you? 'I'm coming for you, Potter!' written in blood across the walls of the Ministry?"

"I never said I'd stop looking, Hermione," Lavender said quickly.

"We'll all keep searching. But we have to believe he is safe," Neville said. "Because, quite frankly, if Harry can't survive somewhere, then none of us really stand much of a chance either, do we?"

_Please wait, Hermione._ Hermione paused midstride as the group had started back to the castle. She turned back to the time wolf for a moment before shaking her head and continuing up the grassy slope. _You will want to hear what else I have to say, child._

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she stopped. The others looked to her in surprise, but she just turned around. "Go on ahead without me," she said. "I'm going to check with Hagrid, and see if he knows anything."

"Sure. We'll meet you in the Great Hall," Neville suggested. When she nodded, the others went on.

_Thank you for trusting me._

"Don't give me a reason not to, then," she warned. "I thought you spent part of the summer preparing his mind to keep something like this from happening!"

_Our time was cut shorter than I had expected. He was ready for everything except a directly forced invasion._

"Wasn't that the big problem in the first place that you were supposed to block out?" she asked angrily.

Rozan looked to her calmly for a minute before standing and walking over to her, circling her slowly. _I wish for you to take one of my whiskers, Hermione Granger._

Hermione's mind was instantly buzzing. The whisker of a time wolf could be used as a magical core for a wand, and was extremely valuable. No wand in current use used such a core, for the obvious reason as difficulty in finding the hair. A time wolf only offered a whisker when it knew something in the future would have need of it, and then only to one that it trusted.

Hesitantly, she took hold of one of his whiskers when he finally stopped in front of her. The moment she touched it, it was released into her waiting hand. She carefully pocketed the precious gift, and then sealed her pocket using a simple charm. "Thank you," she whispered. "Although this doesn't really help me find Harry, does it?"

_No, it does not. I will tell you this much, child. He is in a place that is now safe._

"It's safe now? It wasn't always, then?"

_You truly are the brightest witch of your age._

... 

It was only with great fear and almost no nerves left after a sleepless night that Hermione found herself standing in front of the stone gargoyle that lead to Dumbledore's office. She knew that she had told the others not to tell any teacher - not that they wouldn't be finding out soon enough anyway when he didn't go to class that afternoon - but after not finding anything else all night, she knew it couldn't be helped.

The others had managed to get a few hours of sleep, but she was simply too worried. She had tried to contact him using the two way mirrors, but there had not been any answer. She asked Ron to look for Harry's mirror, but he said that Harry always carried it with him.

"The password, Miss Granger, is Ice Mice," Dumbledore said kindly from behind her, making her jump in surprise. As the gargoyle spun aside, he motioned her ahead of him. "I believe we should wait to hold our conversation until we are in my office."

She nodded and walked up the stairs quickly, trying in vain as she went to hold her emotions in check. After a sleepless, worry filled night, though, she didn't think she had much of a chance.

He motioned for her to take a seat in front of his desk, and he sat down behind it, leaning on it with both arms and resting his chin in his hands. "Now then, Miss Granger, this would be about the disappearance of Harry, would it not?"

"How did you know?" she demanded in surprise.

"Despite your... request," he said slowly, his blue eyes watching her carefully. "A few members of a certain, well-trained group decided to pay me a visit yesterday. Each asked me not to get upset, and not to tell another soul, and each told me what had happened, and some of what our young Mr. Potter said in his farewell note. I believe I know the entire contents by now, actually."

"I should have come, Professor," she said, bowing her head to him. "I'm sorry, I was just..."

"Overcome with concern and not thinking as clearly as you are more than capable of," Dumbledore prompted when she fell silent. She nodded, and he smiled to her. "It happens to the best of us when loved ones are in peril."

"He's my best friend, Professor."

"And more," Dumbledore said softly, almost to himself, leaning back in his chair. "Harry seems to feel that getting close to people goes against his nature. Surely you have noticed this - I am amazed that he had managed to gain so many close friends in his time here at Hogwarts, when he simply wishes to avoid hurting people. A purer soul I have not seen in many years..."

"But sir - "

"However," Dumbledore went on as though she hadn't said a word. "Belief that getting close only causes pain is wrong, and he knows this. It is not an easy thing to change for anyone, though, Miss Granger, and for Harry, this holds twice as true. His belief that anyone he cares for will die only strengthens his resolve given the apparent track record... and it especially increases his resolve to stay as far away as he can from you right now."

"But I want to help him!" Hermione said forcefully. "He shouldn't just run away like this! I told him that I didn't care about the risks - I want to stand by him. I intend to be right beside him during the final battle with Voldemort when he strikes the killing blow."

Dumbledore smiled to her, but said nothing for a moment. "Harry told you the prophecy, then."

"Some of it," Hermione, feeling a little guilty. "But he doesn't really know he told me."

"The mirrors, then?" She nodded. "An incredible invention, really. Like certain places, they really _stand the_ _test of time_, don't they?"

"I guess so," she said hesitantly, not sure what he was getting at.

"It is my firm belief, Miss Granger, that nothing I can do would be able to kill Tom," Dumbledore said after a long pause. "You see, I want to kill him for revenge for all the evil he has caused. Revenge is a dark motive indeed, and I doubt that a dark motive would be able to finish such a powerful dark wizard."

"Then what can?" Hermione asked. "I want to help Harry when we find him, and I will do whatever I can to help him."

"Do you love this boy, Hermione?"

Hermione sat up quickly in her chair, caught off guard by the question. "I... I don't know, sir," she admitted. "I care about him... more than I thought possible, really. But I do not know what love like this is supposed to feel like."

"It is not a subject that can be found in books," the headmaster said knowingly. "But you will feel it with your heart, when you know." He leaned forward again and looked into her eyes. "It will be that that can destroy him. If Harry fights Voldemort with a heart filled with caring and love, I think he will destroy him."

"I want to find him, sir," Hermione said quietly. "I need to find him."

"Then I suggest you continue looking," Dumbledore said, standing slowly from his chair. "In places you have not looked yet." He was looking pointedly at her, but she didn't know what he meant exactly. With a nod anyway, she stood and made her way to the door. "You would be pleased to know that he has not left school grounds, at least, not persay. Oh, and Hermione?" When she turned, he continued. "I am sorry that Minerva changed the password to the Gryffindor common rooms after only a week of classes. She seemed to feel that having half of Gryffindor unable to enter their own dorm meant it was necessary. It was a nice try."

Hermione said nothing to anybody as she trudged slowly to the Great Hall to sit at the Gryffindor table. She had hoped that Dumbledore would be able to help somehow... or at least take some of the worry off her mind. All she had received, though, was a couple of vague hints that didn't seem to help at all.

As she went through the motions of eating, she became vaguely aware that there were more than just Gryffindors sitting at the table. Cho, Terry, Anthony, Padma, and Luna were all there from Ravenclaw, and Susan, Ernie, Justin, and Hannah were all there from Hufflepuff. The rest of the DA was also sitting close, all looking to her, as though waiting for instructions. It seemed that they were completely ignoring the stares from the other tables, and even from Gryffindor, as they leaned in close to listen.

"Anyone know anything new?" she asked in a tired voice. She found it a little unnerving to be faced down with everyone expecting her to know what to do... she usually wouldn't have minded much, but this was different. They wanted her to lead - and she knew she was no leader.

"No," Ginny offered. "But not for lack of trying. We'll go back to searching at lunch, and then we'll try to talk Talisien into letting us off this afternoon to keep looking."

"At least Malfoy's keeping quiet about all this," Ron pointed out helpfully.

"That worries me, actually," Hermione said, looking around at the Slytherin table. The blonde she was looking for was nowhere in sight, though. "Usually, he'd be drawing all sorts of attention to this, wouldn't he?"

"That would be our fault," Pavarti and Padma said together. Padma kept talking. "We heard him talking before you came back from seeing Dumbledore, and decided that you really didn't need to deal with what he was planning. Had a whole great thing ready, talking about how 'Potter's mudblood girlfriend must have killed him off...' You don't want the details, do you?"

"No," Hermione groaned, setting her head on the table. She understood suddenly why Harry found this helpful. The cool wood seemed to penetrate her thoughts, giving her something to focus on besides those gathered around her.

"He'll turn up," Ron reassured her, looking to the others for support. He hadn't expected her to be taking it so hard, but then, he knew he had never really understood Hermione anyway. "C'mon, it's Harry, right?"

Hermione just moaned and finally pulled herself up from the table. "Look, I'm going to go have a lie down for a bit... didn't get much sleep last night and all."

"Hermione, skipping class?" Dean asked in surprise. "You must be feeling pretty bad... You sure it wouldn't be best for you to head to see Madame Pomfrey?"

She didn't reply as she left the Great Hall and made her way to the Gryffindor Tower. She knew there would be a few sixth and seventh years there, but she didn't care. So long as there was no one in her dorm, she would be fine.

Flopping down onto her bed after staring at it for a moment, she closed her eyes to all her thoughts. She had expected to fall asleep almost at once when her head hit the pillow, but apparently she had no such luck. Everything everyone had said to her since Harry's disappearance kept flashing through her mind, and none of it was making any sense.

She needed sleep, and she needed to clear her thoughts. Harry missing shouldn't be able to mess up her life this badly... but she wouldn't have it any other way. As her mother had always told her, you worry more about those you care the most about, even when they don't need it. Well, Harry certainly needed the worry now, but that alone wouldn't be of much help.

The strange sensation in her pocket wasn't helping her think at all. After a moment, the buzzing feeling intensified, and she reached into her robes to find out what was going on. As her hand wrapped around the handle to her mirror, her eyes widened and she sat up instantly, pulling out the mirror quickly to look into its surface.

"Harry?"

Her image was not being reflected back to her, which told her that the mirror was active. Wherever he was, though, it was dark. Very dark. She could barely make out his brilliant emerald eyes looking back to her.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione," Harry's soft whisper came to her ears.

"Where are you?" she asked instantly.

Harry shook his head, and she realised that her eyes must be adjusting to the dark, as she could make out a little more of him. "I won't tell you that, 'Mione. I can't. There's a lot I want to tell you that's like that. Mainly, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

"Why can't you tell me where you are?" she demanded, her voice hardening a little. "I want to help you, Harry. There are so many people searching for you right now... we're all worried about you. Please..."

"It's because of that that I have to stay here," he whispered, looking away from the mirror. Something reflected off his glasses, but she wasn't sure what it was before he looked back to her again. "The more people that care about me, the more people I care about. And that can only mean one thing..."

"Oh not that again!" she said, exasperated. "You are not blaming yourself for everything again, Harry, I'm not going to allow it."

Harry smiled sadly to her and looked down. "That's one of the reasons I had to leave. I know you'd be able to talk me out of this... and I can't let you do that. Not this time. Everyone means too much to me... and I can't protect everyone. Someone would die at Christmas, and it would be all my fault."

"At Christmas?"

Harry nodded. "In the vision I had, I saw him kill, 'Mione. Lots of people. His raw hatred almost consumed me, it hurt so badly. He told me then. He told me that he would kill my friends over Christmas, and that I was next. So... I have to leave. If I don't have friends, then he can't kill them. He can't kill you."

"Honestly, Harry, don't you think you're overreacting just a little? I mean, yes, he threatened us. But so what else is new? We all know that being close to you means a certain amount of danger and trouble... but guess what? We don't care!"

She was startled to see tears in his eyes when he looked up to her again. "I'm sorry, 'Mione. This is something I have to do. I can't keep putting you at risk like this. Even though my heart will always lie with you... it will always be yours... I have to stay away. Your death would be like my own."

She tried to answer him despite the tears in her eyes at how deeply his words had touched her, but the mirror went blank suddenly. "Harry," she said sternly to the mirror. He had told her how to activate it, to contact him. Nothing changed in the mirror, though. She just saw her own reflection looking back at her. "Harry Potter," she repeated. Again, nothing.

Closing her eyes tightly to the feeling building in her chest that was making it difficult to breath, she set the mirror down carefully on her nightstand, afraid that if she didn't, she might end up breaking it. She then did something she once swore she would never do.

She cursed. Loudly. Many, many times.

When she could think of nothing else to say about the stupidity of men, of war, and of dark wizards, and nothing else to say about the foolish boy that she had fallen for, she pulled herself out of bed, not feeling any better - in fact, her throat felt a little raw now. She had seen him, but it hadn't helped any.

After a moment, she noticed Crookshanks purring around her ankles. Seeing him didn't help her mood at all, as he simply brought back memories of the short time they had spent in the Astronomy Tower. Well... alright, it had been an entire morning, but it wasn't nearly long enough. Not when she wanted a lifetime.

She walked downstairs slowly, and was surprised to find Lavender and Neville sitting close to each other on the couch, talking in quiet whispers. Neville had his hand on her shoulder, and she wasn't meeting his eye.

Hearing her footsteps, they both shot apart instantly, and Lavender stood up quickly to meet her. "We finished another sweep of the castle," she explained. "I'm skipping Divination for this, so you know how I feel about it, right?"

Hermione smiled weakly to her friend and nodded. "Sorry for telling you off earlier."

Lavender waved her apology aside. "Don't worry about it. Friends get told to sod off every once and a while. Besides, I know how hard this is hitting you."

"Thanks." Hermione sank into one of the chairs by the fireplace and sighed. "I just spoke with him," she said after a long silence.

"What?" Neville demanded, leaping up from the couch as Lavender sat down hard on the ground by Hermione's chair, leaning against it. "When? Where? How?"

"I believe you left out who and why, but I guess you already know that, don't you?" Hermione said with a weak smile. "He contacted me using the mirrors," she explained, looking to Lavender briefly until the other girl nodded her understanding. "And he told me that Voldemort - honestly, grow up! - spoke to him when he collapsed a couple of weeks ago. He said that his friends would all die over the Christmas holidays, and that he would be next."

"So what, he's planning on hiding somewhere to try and convince V-V-V... You-Know-Who that he doesn't have any friends?" Lavender asked. Hermione nodded. "Prat. He's a prat. Biggest one I know - and that includes Ron! I always knew it, but that confirms it."

"I tried telling him that, actually," Hermione admitted. "But he... he just told me that his heart will always be with me, even though he never can. Then the mirrors stopped working."

Lavender gripped Hermione's arm reassuringly, and Neville nodded slowly. "Right, Lavender mentioned that to me," he said with a grin. "You two make a great couple, you know."

"No, I wouldn't know!" Hermione said forcibly. "Because the Great Harry Potter's decided to do something noble and stupid once again, and now I'll never see him to have a chance to find out!"

It must have been a sign that Neville had really grown up recently that he didn't back away at her anger. Instead, he leaned in a little closer, and smiled weakly back to her. "If you believed that, I don't think you'd have come down from your room."

"Any idea where he is?" Lavender asked softly. At Hermione's frown, she went on quickly. "I mean, you said you spoke to him through the mirrors, right? Did you see anything that you might be able to use to find him?"

"No, it was just too..." She stopped suddenly. It was dark. Very dark. He was in a place that used to be dangerous, but now was perfectly safe. A place that few people could ever get to. A place that withstood the test of time.

She stood up so quickly that Lavender actually fell backwards, as she was leaning on the edge of the chair, and it tipped with the unbalanced weight. "Where are you going?" Neville asked as she made her way quickly to the portrait hole.

"I have an idea, and I have to check it out," she said hurriedly. "Don't worry, and please have someone get my homework for this afternoon's class..." She couldn't believe she said that, but it was a part of her too. She checked the deepest pocket of her robes, and found that the dagger she was supposed to give Harry was still there. With a deep breath, she started down the halls as quickly as she dared. She was not going to be stopped by a teacher now, at all times.

Hermione couldn't help but smile to herself as she stepped in a puddle of water outside the bathroom on the second floor. Myrtle must have been upset about something again, which came as no surprise, really. Pushing open the door, she looked into the girl's bathroom a little tentatively.

There was no sign of anyone. Closing the door behind her quickly, she walked up to the sinks in the centre of the room and started looking at them, looking for a particular marking that she knew would still be there.

"You!"

She whirled around in an instant, her wand out, and found herself face to face with Moaning Myrtle, who was hovering three feet above the ground and appeared to be - no shock here - crying. "Hi Myrtle," Hermione said as cheerfully as she could muster.

"Don't you 'Hi Myrtle,' me, you... you... cat-girl!" Myrtle wailed. "How dare you come into my bathroom after what he did to me? It was... horrible!"

"What happened, Myrtle?" she asked quickly, trying to appease and quiet the ghost before she attracted undue attention.

"What happened? He ignored me, that's what! Harry finally came back into my bathroom, I thought to see me, even, and then he ignored me completely!"

"Harry just ignored you?" Hermione asked, faking surprise. In reality, she felt elated at the news - Harry had been there, which meant she must have been on the right track.

"Well..." she moaned, looking away from Hermione's brown eyed stare slowly. "Not completely. He did say that, even though I was dead, he shouldn't be near me, either. Horrible thing to say, reminding me of that fact!"

"Myrtle... did he go down to the Chamber?"

"I... I wouldn't know!" she wailed, turning and drifting a few feet away. "After he insulted my death state, I returned to my u-pipe to wallow in my own self misery..."

"Thanks, Myrtle," Hermione said kindly, looking back to the sink for a moment. "Er... you wouldn't be able to open the entrance, would you?"

"Oh, that's right!" Myrtle wailed more loudly than ever. "That's right! Ignore pour, pathetic, moaning, moping Myrtle until you need something from me, and then come crawling back, just expecting me to help!" Before Hermione could say anything else, the ghost vanished through a wall, screaming and crying harder than she had ever seen her before.

"I believe that conversation could have gone much better," a soft voice said from behind her suddenly, causing her to jump in surprise before whirling towards whoever had entered the bathroom.

Somehow, she wasn't shocked to find the Wanderer leaning against the doorframe, looking to her as though trying to determine something. "You knew he was here, didn't you?" she accused him.

"I did," Talisien admitted. "I checked to make sure he had not left the castle, but I did not enter the Chamber. Nor does he know that I checked. I am a teacher, after all. I couldn't just let him leave, if that was his intent."

"You could have said something, you know," Hermione said bitterly.

"I could have, and in fact I did, just now. I also happen to know that you received a few hints from several different sources, and, being as bright as I knew you were, you figured it out on your own anyway. No harm done, right?"

"Except I can't open the bloody entrance!" Hermione growled. That made twice in one day that she had sworn... she knew she was overtired and overextended, but she didn't care. She was bringing Harry home before resting.

Talisien nodded and was next to her looking at the sink carefully. "Hmm... yes, that is a problem. As I'm sure you are aware, I am no parseltongue."

"Then how I am supposed to get to him?"

The Wanderer said nothing, but he was by the doorway again, causing her eyes to jump from the sink where he had been to the door again. He was leaning against the now open door, his arms folded before him. "You have been told how."

Before she could ask him what he meant, he was gone, and the door shut quickly with a bang. Hermione turned back to the sink, and found her eyes reflected back to her from the rusty metal faucet. "Alright, think Hermione," she muttered to herself as she traced the snake with a finger. "You're good at puzzles. You love puzzles. This is one you can solve. So how?" She knew that talking to herself was yet another sign of how tired she was, but she was beyond caring about that.

"Ron... Ron would try blasting the thing apart right away... no good there. What would Harry do, then?" That thought caused her mind to cloud over as she knew he was just below her, and so she shook it from her mind. "Alright then... Fred and George. They could get into anywhere..."

She closed her eyes to think for a moment, and pressed her hands against her tired temples slowly, trying to massage thought into herself. As she did so, she caught sight of her hands through what Fey had called her 'magics' eye.'

"Wandless, inner magics!" Hermione breathed. "Fey said that they could do anything that was necessary, if you have the power to do it!" Opening her eyes, she held a hand out to the sink. "Just concentrate..." she muttered, closing her eyes tightly again. "Open..."

It was an odd sensation that suddenly gripped her around the middle, and she felt like she was about to throw up, despite not having eaten anything. The pull was incredible, even though she wasn't moving, and she had to fight with all her strength to keep from falling to her knees. A strong, burning sensation that started in the pit of her stomach wove out around her, and then concentrated on her outstretched hand.

Chancing a glance, she opened her eyes and saw tangible energy held firmly in the air before her. Squeezing her eyes shut again quickly, before anything changed, she tried to picture the sink in front of her. As she did so, grey and green energy appeared before her. It looked like it was woven together over the sink in a beautiful spider web that had taken centuries to perfect.

As the blue and white energy in her hand started to merge with the grey and green, the spider web weaving started to disappear. The blue followed closely to the green and seemed to swallow it, engulf it, and finally replace it with an empty nothingness, while the white energy held the grey in check.

As soon as the blue had removed all the green, the white energy vanished, and the grey collapsed in on itself in a tangled mess - all beauty in the pattern was gone. Opening her eyes as an odd sound came to her ears, she leapt back in surprise as the sink started to open and a large pipe appeared in front of her.

Before she could cheer or even jump for joy, she slumped over and barely managed to hold herself up by one of the other sinks. A gut-wrenching feeling had gripped her and was pulling at her... she felt like everything was fading, just when she had finally found Harry.

Hermione groaned as she fought off the sickening dizziness, and just when she thought she could take no more, it vanished. The shock of an empty feeling made her gasp, and she was suddenly breathing heavily, as though every breath was her first breath all over again.

Sitting up slowly, she looked down into the dark abyss that lead to the once-feared Chamber of Secrets. Now, it only held one secret... a secret that she knew wasn't a dangerous one. Slipping her feet over the edge of the pipe, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pushed off the solid ground behind her.

It seemed like an eternity before she landed on the ground. She pulled out her wand first, before doing anything else. "Lumos," she whispered, and a bright light filled the dank passageway hidden beneath the school. "Scourgify," she added, pointing her wand at herself to clean the muck off.

It was then that she really took a good look around. There were hundreds of skeletons of rats and a few larger animals scattered throughout the passage, and the steady drip of foul smelling water caused her to wrinkle her nose.

"Alright Harry, where are you?" she muttered to herself as she started walking. After hearing Harry retell the story of going down into the unknown so many times, she could appreciate his attention to detail right away.

When she came to the area of the passage that had caved in just beyond the entrance, she found that someone had levitated all the rocks to one side, and had even formed a path going beyond.

Stepping aside of the large basilisk skin that she had excepted to see, she eventually came face to face with a large set of double doors that had lifelike snakes on either side of them, towering high above her. Framing the doors were two torches that were lit with a green flame - an everlasting flame, unless she missed her guess.

It was the third time she cursed in one day. With the fleeting thought that Ron would be proud, she cursed again and kicked the large double doors hard. The spell keeping them closed was even more complex than the one to the main entrance. Muffling her pain at such a stupid, foolish action, she limped a few feet away from the doors and sat down on the dank ground to think.

If she couldn't open these doors, then Harry would never even know she was there. But there was no way she could do another spell like her inner magics had let her do earlier... she could hardly believe that she had done it before, even still.

She closed her eyes to think, and took a deep breath. This was a challenge that might take some time. She ignored the hunger in her stomach - Harry must be worse off than she was - but even that didn't help.

"'Mione?"

The voice was so quiet that she thought she must have imagined it. She opened her eyes just a peak, and found Harry kneeling over her, reaching out as though to check for a pulse. He looked pale, wet, cold, and more than a little afraid. It was not how she had expected him to look at all.

Without another thought, she spread her arms and pulled him down to her before he could protest at all. She held him as tightly as she could possibly muster... there was no way he was going to escape again. Not ever again, she promised herself that.

"Harry James Potter," she whispered fiercely. "You are the biggest fool and prat I have ever known." When he tried to pull away, she just squeezed a little harder, and then finally released him.

He was walking away again already, and she forced herself to her feet and caught one of his hands, halting him in his tracks. "Please let go, Hermione," he whispered, not looking back to her as he took another step back to the main chamber.

She stepped up beside him and shook her head. "If you are going back in there, I'm coming with you. And you should know by now that you aren't going to be able to talk me out of it. Just try it - I can be more stubborn than even you."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his ruffled black hair and smiled weakly to her. "Fine," he said after a minute of silence, and then returned to the Chamber.

Hermione followed him quickly, and just as she got inside, she heard him hiss three sharp words, and the doors swung shut again. "Harry, we have to go back," she said, catching his arm before he could go too far away. "Harry, we..." she trailed off as she saw the decomposing body of the basilisk at the other end of the chamber, and shuddered involuntarily. "That's the basilisk?" she asked despite herself.

Harry nodded. "Second year, 'Mione," he explained in a very tired voice. "This was what destiny threw at me in my second year. I thought first year was bad enough, and then this came. Third year... don't even get me started! And fourth was even worse..."

"Harry, it's alright," Hermione said softly, turning to him and trying to get him to look to her.

"No!" he shouted suddenly, turning to face her fully, a terrible anger in his eyes that she had never seen before. "No, it's not alright, Hermione Ann Granger! How can any of this be right?" He turned his back on her and took several steps away.

"I was there for most of that, remember, Harry?"

"What does that matter?" he demanded. "You have an option. _You_ could leave. I'm the bloody Boy-Who-Lived! I've got to 'play the hero' every time some ruddy fool gets his knickers caught around his head! I get to face each day knowing that I'm the one who gets to face _him_ in the end, the only one who can!"

"Harry, let me help you. Please."

"Get out. Now. Before I do something I'll regret." His voice was oddly calm and vexed at this point as he turned away from her again.

"Like what?" Hermione asked in a whisper. "Curse me? Hex me? Force feed me poison - though if you made it, I'm sure it would be an antidote instead... Would you go so far as to kill me if I didn't leave?" Her voice had steadily risen in volume until she was returning his shouting.

"Please leave... please... before I ask you to stay," he said so softly she barely heard him. "I can't do that to you, 'Mione. You are too special... too important. Please... leave while you still can."

"There's only one way I'm leaving here, Harry, and that's with you," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms as she did so. "So get used to the idea."

"I'm not leaving," he said calmly, turning back to her. "So what do I have to say to you to make you leave?"

"How far are you willing to go?"

"You'd make me curse you, wouldn't you?"

"You don't have the power to make me leave, Harry," Hermione whispered.

"I do, actually," Harry replied. "I could lie to you. I know something I could say to make you leave cursing my name." He closed his eyes off from me then, and turned away. "But it would be a lie. And, whatever the reason, I can't lie to you."

"Let me help, then."

"Bloody hell, Hermione, don't you get it?" he demanded, his shoulders sagged in defeat. "You. Can't. Help. Me!"

She didn't know why she did it. She wasn't sure exactly what drove her to it, and could never pinpoint what part of her agreed with what she was doing. She was, after all, against violence for the most part. But the next second, she had spun him around and slapped him hard across the cheek.

That did it. It was a breaking point, and something in Harry's harsh eyes faded suddenly, and he was in her arms crying so hard she thought he would break. "Help me... please..." he whispered whenever breath came to him. "Do something... make it all... just go away... please..."

She took him gently in her arms and held him. After a few minutes, she realised that they were on the hard, cold ground, but she didn't care. All she could do, all she could focus on was the fact that Harry was crying in her arms, and she had caused it.

No words were said as Harry finally stopped sobbing. After a few soft sniffs, he pulled away from her just enough so he could look to her, and he smiled weakly, but it was forced. "Sorry..."

"Never say you're sorry for showing emotion, Harry," she said instantly, taking one of his hands in her own. "Please. Let me in, tell me what's wrong... I can't make anything go away if you don't talk to me..."

"I already did," he whispered, breaking their eye contact as he looked to a space on the floor a few feet away from them. An old bloodstain, from what she could tell. "And you already know about the prophecy."

She bit her lip at that comment. He knew that she knew, but they had never discussed it. He knew she had heard him talking to Sirius. As heavy a feeling as it was on her own heart, she could only imagine what it was like for him.

"You'll do it, Harry. I know you can."

"But I have to be a murderer, 'Mione... Either that or be murdered."

"You can't murder a soulless creature like Voldemort!" she said fiercely, holding him tightly to her as she spoke. "You'll still be Harry, after it's over. And I'll do everything I can to help you. You know that. Even if you won't let me, I'm still going to help."

"I never said I was leaving here," Harry pointed out. "Nothing can reach me here that I don't let in." He sighed and pulled away a little more, though she still held on a little. "I don't know why I let you in, either. I shouldn't have - now you are probably in even more danger. He'll read my mind again sometime, and then he'll know..."

She shifted a bit, and he got up quickly, sitting down next to her instead of in her lap. Although the lack of physical contact and the warmth that accompanied it was a shock suddenly, her legs had been starting to go to sleep. It was not the best way for them to sit on hard stone. Pushing such thoughts out of her mind, she reached into the pocket she had been aiming for, and pulled out Talisien's dagger.

"Talisien... he... he wanted me to give this to you," Hermione said softly, holding it out to Harry. "He said that it would help you, that it chose you."

Harry took the weapon tentatively, and drew it a few inches from the sheath to look at the blade. Just above the hilt, at the base of the blade, an oak leaf was inscribed, with a crown over it. When the blade was back in the sheath, he looked back to her slowly, without words.

"It'll keep him out of your mind, Harry. No one will be able to penetrate it ever again, so long as it is close by," she whispered. "He can't reach you now."

Harry clutched the weapon to his chest as she said that, almost as though he needed it to breath suddenly. "I..."

He stopped right away, and she took a deep breath. "Look, Harry, I know that what happened was horrible, but it wasn't your fault."

"Bullocks," he muttered.

"It wasn't!" Hermione insisted. "Voldemort would have killed them anyway eventually, right? And if it hadn't been you, he'd be tormenting someone else, wouldn't he?"

"But you are all going to leave me at Christmas," he whispered. "He's going to - "

"Be at a loss to find us, Harry, because we'll be with you. Do you really think Dumbledore would send us home where we could be attacked?" She reached out for his hand, but he pulled away. "If nothing else, I'm going home with you."

"So many people are going to die because I lived, 'Mione," he said slowly. "Because I care too much. They're going to die."

"You know what? I think I prefer angry Harry to brooding, upset Harry. At least he seems to think every now and then, and listens to _some_ reason..." she said with a grin. He was smiling - though it was weak - and she knew she had gotten through to him. "If you had died, there would be a lot more dead people today, Harry. And if you had died, then think of everything you would have missed."

Harry snorted and shook his head. "Right, I'd miss Malfoy's taunts and seeing Cedric die in front of me. I'd miss helping revive Voldemort, and I'd miss causing Sirius's death. Sounds to me like I wouldn't be missing much - "

"Except friends who care about you, Harry. You'd be missing Quidditch, the DA, getting to tell Snape off during the off-season... you'd miss ever having met Ron... or me..."

"I get the feeling you'd all be better off without me anyway."

"Right," Hermione said angrily. "I'd be dead by now, thanks to a mountain troll in my first year. Sounds a lot better to me!" When Harry didn't reply, she glared at him for a moment before she remembered something. "Do you remember what you said in the mirror?"

"I said not to come looking for me," Harry replied softly, still not looking at her despite all her attempts to make him look up. He was still cradling the dagger close to him, holding it almost like it was a long lost child.

"You also said that your heart is mine, so I'm calling it in. Now." That seemed to get his attention, and he looked up quickly, startled. "That's right, Harry Potter, I'm calling in your heart. It's time you started listening to reason for a change, and I intend to make you. We're leaving here, and you're going to tell Dumbledore what Voldemort said in his message to you, and then we're going to get you something to eat, even if I have to force your mouth to chew every bit and massage your throat into swallowing, and _then_ - "

"Do you think... then I could get some sleep? In a soft, warm bed? In dry clothes?"

It was what she had been looking for ever since she had found him again. Although there was a haunted sadness in his eyes still, there was a glimmer of something more, something much better and stronger.

In his emerald eyes, she could see hope again, for the first time in a long time.

... 

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	16. Odd Requests

Chapter Sixteen: Odd Requests

Harry Potter was alone.

Well, as alone as he could be when he was almost always surrounded by friends, anyway. In this case, though, he actually was alone - he had managed to give everyone the slip and was currently kneeling in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, looking at a small knick in the floor.

The small knick was more of a slice, and was where the dagger that he now wore at his side had struck the stone more than a week ago to protect him. Right next to the damaged floor was an impression of his outline burned into the ground. Hermione had told him after class yesterday that the barrier the dagger had created was so powerful that it took almost all of the Wanderer's efforts to keep it from boring into the ground itself.

The end result was that you could see exactly where he had been lying on the ground after his fitful episode when Voldemort had threatened everything that mattered to him.

He told his friends that he was going to the loo, but that excuse wouldn't hold for long. It wouldn't be too long before someone was sent to check on him in the bathroom to make sure nothing was wrong.

Oddly enough, that didn't really bother him. When he was allowed out of his room again after his return - both Hermione and Madame Pomfrey had insisted on him getting several days' rest - he had found that a lot of people had been worried about him.

He had agreed to the semi-survellience for a week, at which point they had all said that things would go back to normal again. If he knew was normal was, though, that might have helped some. It had been three days thus far.

He looked up when he heard the door latch closed, and he found the Wanderer standing just inside the doorway. He was shrouded in his cloak again, but that had stopped bothering Harry a long time ago. Just behind him stood Kailyn, who had changed out of her robes and was once again wearing a green tunic and brown slacks - both of elven make. She smiled to him, and stepped out from behind her grandfather.

Both her short swords were in her hands, and he was again forced to wonder just where she kept them. There were no obvious sheaths on her that he could tell.

She was walking forward slowly, and Harry had the sudden idea that maybe he should draw his dagger. It slid silently from the sheath, and he held it tightly in his right hand. It was the first time he had really hefted the weight, and he had to admit that it felt... right, somehow.

The half-breed came in much slower than he knew she was capable of, projecting her intentions from a long way away. Harry met her first attack with his blade easily, and stepped back to deflect her second sword away from his hip.

Again, he stepped back to defend the slow attack, catching her first blade this time just above his head. When her other sword came in straight at his chest, he caught it again, but rather than just release it, he pushed forward against the steel to attack her this time.

She stepped back easily, and tapped her hip with the flat of one of her swords before coming in again. He found it quite odd that no words had been spoken yet, given that he had never really said he wanted the training in the first place.

This time when she came in, he stepped to the side rather than parry her first attack, and he attacked her directly. Her second sword was halted midswing to deal with his counter attack, and the dagger clashed against the hilt to her weapon.

Her green eyes were keeping a careful watch on him, and it was only then that he noticed that she was not watching his blade, or even his face. Her eyes seemed glued to his chest, regardless of whatever else was going on.

She let him attack three more times before stepping in quickly and striking him hard in the hip with the flat of one of her swords. The other blade caught his dagger firmly and spun around it almost instantly, forcing him to lose his grip.

Once he was disarmed, she stepped back again and looked pointedly at him. When her eyes flashed down to his hip, the thought struck him. He was moving with his hips, and giving away his actions too soon.

While keeping this firmly in mind, he picked up his dagger and attacked again carefully. Although she blocked the attack rather easily, and even had time to step back, she was smiling. When he smiled back, though, she frowned and tapped her collarbone with the pummel of one of her swords. He must have looked confused, because she tapped it again, and then pointed her other sword directly at the same point on him.

When she attacked again, he understood what she was saying - her eyes were glued to right where she had pointed. He looked to her chest for a brief second before looking back to her face, well aware that a bit of colour was creeping up his neck and cheeks.

She grinned and stepped back. In a fluent motion, both her swords vanished as she leaned to her shins. He caught the briefest of glimpses of leather, and he knew right away that that was where she kept her sheaths, though they were well hidden.

"You must ignore whether your opponent is male or female," she offered quietly as he returned his dagger to his sheath as well. "The weapon is dangerous regardless." She shrugged as she turned back to Talisien. "Besides, it's not like I was asking you to stare somewhere else, right?"

"Kai..."

"Sorry, grandfather," Kailyn said almost instantly as she turned back to Harry again. "That wasn't too bad for the first lesson, Harry."

"Thanks. But why did you stop?"

Before either Kailyn or Talisien could answer, there was a knock on the door. As Talisien put his hand on the knob, he looked to Harry. "She heard someone coming."

Hermione stepped into the class as the door was shut again, and she went straight over to Harry. "I saw where you were on the Map," she explained. "I wasn't following you or checking up on you, though. I think that's a foolish idea, myself, given that you gave me the Map anyway so I could find you if you did something stupid again."

It was true, too. She had been against the idea from the beginning, saying that she trusted him completely. He had told her when she tucked him in the first night back that he would not run away again, that he would stand and face his challenges again, even if it was hard. She had promised to help however she could, too.

Harry put a hand tenderly on her shoulder and smiled. "What's going on?" he asked. He knew that she had been planning on studying in the library after supper, so something must have come up to interrupt those plans - especially given that she was on patrolling duty later in the night as a prefect.

"Professor McGonagall found me in the library and said she wanted to talk to you. Apparently the others said that I was the best bet to find you - at least they didn't tell her why..." she said as she rustled the parchment in her hand before stuffing it back into a waiting pocket.

"That is truly an incredible bit of magics," Talisien said softly, almost as though he was reminding them that they were not alone in the room. "Come, Kailyn. Your own training still awaits."

"Of course," she said quickly, turning to Hermione anyway. "I'm glad he finally gave it to you, by the way," she added with a smile, her voice full of life and laughter - more so than they could actually remember. Before either of them could reply, the elf and half-elf were out the door and gone.

Hermione didn't say anything right away. Instead, she put a hand over the bracelet on her wrist, simply to double check that it was still covered by her robes. Satisfied, she looked up to Harry, who seemed to be doing the same thing to his own band of gold.

"So, what does McGonagall want, anyway?"

"She didn't say," Hermione explained.

No more words were shared right away as the two left the classroom. The halls were empty in the middle of the evening, with students either in their common rooms already, or already involved in club activities. Harry had yet to call another DA meeting since the incident, and he knew it wouldn't be long before people started to ask.

Although not actually holding hands as they made their way through the corridors and up the flights of stairs to the transfiguration teacher's office, they were walking in synch and sticking by each other. They did have to duck behind a set of armour just at the top of the last flight of stairs to avoid running into Peeves, who appeared intent on pouring a bucket of stinksap on the first unsuspecting person he came across, and was already singing at the top of his lungs about it.

When Hermione lifted a hand to knock on the door to the office, Harry stopped her by catching her hand. When she looked to him, he smiled, not quite meeting her eye. "I'm sorry, by the way. For earlier. I never said." She didn't get a chance to reply before he knocked on the door and it opened.

"Ah, Miss Granger, I see you were successful, then," McGonagall said with a soft smile. "Good evening, Mr. Potter. And don't worry, you aren't in trouble - unless you have a guilty conscience that you wish to part with..."

"See you in the common room later, Harry?" Hermione asked, turning to leave.

"No, Miss Granger, you may stay for this if you wish. As a prefect you will be privy to some of the information soon anyway, and the rest I expect Harry would tell you later, even if I asked him not to," she explained. "You see, I believe he has an extreme dislike of secrets..."

"You don't mind, Harry?"

"I don't even know what this is about," Harry admitted, sitting in one of the wooden chairs in front of his teacher's desk. Hermione sat down next to him, and immediately picked up the tin of biscuits, taking one herself and offering one to Harry. She had obviously been in the office several times before, though he doubted it was for anything aside from extra credit assignments.

McGonagall smiled to her, and then sat down and looked to Harry. "I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things, actually. First, I'd like to congratulate you in your work in our weekly Wednesday class. I am seeing better work from you this year than ever before."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, surprised. He certainly hadn't expected to be praised like that by his Head of House.

"That is not the main thing I wished to speak with you about, though it does help. After being informed by Miss Granger of your experience a little over a week ago in the Ministry of Magic - or rather, in You-Know-Who's head - I am aware that you are worried about our upcoming holiday."

"That's right," Harry said darkly. "I don't like to think of my friends being killed for knowing me."

"Dark times are upon us, Mr. Potter, as they were sixteen years ago," she pointed out. "Only then, it was friends of Albus that tended to be targeted first. He has suggested something to me after a discussion with Miss Granger here."

Harry looked to Hermione quickly, and was startled to see a bit of red on her face, as though embarrassed to be pointed out for once. "I spoke to Dumbledore, too, Harry."

"I do not believe she meant any harm by it, Harry," McGonagall said kindly, leaning forward a bit. "So please do not be upset with her later."

"I wasn't planning on it, Professor," Harry said. "She's not the one that's been following me everywhere I go all week. Unless we are travelling together, of course, and then it's not really following at all, is it?"

McGonagall's lips pursed together a bit at this long narration, and then relaxed again. "What are your plans over Christmas, Harry?"

Harry shrugged. "I was thinking of praying, but it doesn't seem like anyone up there likes me very much, so I doubt that would do much good," he said with a straight face. Hermione was smiling broadly at his statement, though, and it was obvious that McGonagall understood what he was actually trying to say as well. "I was thinking about everyone I know, not myself. I was planning on staying here or going... home."

"Your 'home' would be best, Harry," she said firmly. "For many reasons, the least of which being that it would give you a chance to be close to several of your friends at once."

"Why are you asking about his plans, Professor?"

"Because, Hermione, I have an offer for him, in part because of his focus that I have seen this year, and in part for my own reasons. I have been asked to stay within headquarters over Christmas, simply because Albus felt it best to have at least one permanent professor there to keep tabs on things and report new developments from the Order to him." She looked to each of them in turn, and then leaned back just a little. "Do you know why I agreed to do this?"

"You want to help the Order." Harry did not say this as a question, but rather was stating it as an obvious fact.

"Indeed, but that is only part of the reason."

"Harry's not old enough for that, Professor," Hermione said suddenly, sitting upright. "You are supposed to be in seventh year before you can even consider looking at that!"

McGonagall actually smiled to Hermione then. "With normal witches and wizards, that is indeed the case. But, as Harry pointed out many times in the past with his behaviour and continued success in escaping the Dark Arts, he is not exactly a normal wizard." She then looked away from Harry to Hermione. "And neither are you a normal witch, given how many of the things Harry has done with your help."

"Excuse me..." Harry said quickly to stop their discussion. When both looked to him in surprise, he plunged on. "Could one of you tell me what you are talking about before I think I'm losing my mind?"

"You are not to repeat this to anyone, understand?"

"I don't keep things from my friends, Professor."

"I am not asking you to keep it from Miss Granger, but I must insist that you keep it from the others. What we will be doing is not exactly legal."

At Harry's continued confused expression, Hermione sighed. "Oh, Harry... she's going to be training us as Animagi! It's not exactly supposed to happen until you are seventeen, and then you have to register with the Ministry, remember?"

"Uh... of course," Harry said after a second's pause. "But why are you training me?"

"There are many reasons, as I said earlier, but the obvious is that every weapon that we can give you in your fight against You-Know-Who, we will gladly give. So long as you are willing to continue to listen and learn!" McGonagall then looked to Hermione as well. "Given your capacity to learn everything possible, I do expect you will be able to help him grasp this difficult concept in the short timeframe that we will have available. Is that acceptable?"

"You expect us to learn how to become Animagi in three weeks?" Harry asked in surprise as Hermione nodded feverously. "It took my dad and Sirius the better part of three years!"

"I must remind you, Mr. Potter, that the Marauders did not have a competent teacher instructing them, and had to rely on their own knowledge and abilities. Although obviously not something to be pushed aside lightly, one can never replace a good teacher... as I suspect you are discovering quickly."

Harry was silent for a moment, and Hermione reached out and grasped his hand, sensing that something was bothering him. "I'll do it on one condition," Harry said eventually.

"Harry!" Hermione said, shocked.

Harry shook his head and went on. "I want to be kept up to date on Order business," Harry said firmly. "I don't care if all you discovered was that Voldemort stepped on an anthill and set fire to his carpet, I want to know all the details of every meeting that is held from here on in."

Professor McGonagall surveyed him carefully as she leaned back in her chair. There was a long silence, during which time Hermione was looking back and forth between the other two in the room, and then the teacher sat forward again. "Very well, Mr. Potter."

"Professor?"

"If anyone has a right to know, Hermione, it is one who has been tortured by You-Know-Who himself," McGonagall explained gently to the startled witch. "His friends are the ones in danger, and if anyone tries to hide the facts from him again, I suspect that more might be damaged than a few priceless artifacts in the Headmaster's office."

"Harry, you didn't..." Hermione breathed, looking to him in surprise instead.

"I did!" Harry said firmly. "He kept going on about how I had to calm down and accept facts as facts, and I couldn't take it. He even told me to continue wrecking his office in the hopes that, when he told me the full truth, I would be too exhausted to attack him as well."

"That," McGonagall said before Hermione could reply. "Is all water under the bridge on both accounts anyway." There was a short pause before she nodded. "Right then. Over the holidays we will ensure that you are both fully trained Animagi. It will take a lot of work, sometimes working all day and into the night, but it will do you both good. A lot of good, I expect."

"What about Ron?" Harry asked after a moment. "Will he - "

"No." The transfiguration professor stood up and turned around to look at something on the bookshelf behind her before turning back. "No, Mr. Weasley will not be staying with you over these holidays. In fact, most of your friends are going on long trips, and will be returning just in time for the Hogwarts Express to bring them back here. Albus believes that this is the best course to keep them safest."

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly before standing up himself. "Thank you, Professor. I will work hard, and I'm sure Hermione will too." He looked slowly to Hermione, and then smiled to McGonagall. "And thank you for suggesting that Hermione stay with me."

"It was her idea, actually."

"Harry," Hermione said quickly, catching his arm when he nodded and turned to leave. "She said she had several things to talk to you about, and I somehow doubt that this will be coming up in the weekly Prefect meeting."

"Five points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger," McGonagall said with a nod to her as Harry sat back down in the wooden chair that needed the padding replaced. Once she was sitting as well, she went on. "No, I have another important thing to ask you, Harry. One I hope you will accept."

"Ask away," Harry offered. "Though I won't guarantee you the answer you want."

"A good plan, not promising to help without knowing the details," she said, leaning forward. "At the end of this month, in two week's time, there will be another Ball held in the school. This was the idea of the Wanderer to bolster spirits, and was suggested at the beginning of term. It is also one of the reasons that the Quidditch season seems a little odd this year."

"Why have the games been on Friday nights so far?" Harry asked, focusing on that first. "I mean, it gets cold at nights lately. We were lucky that the summer heat lasted so long this year to get the two games in so far, but..."

"I will not tell you all the reasons yet, Harry, but one of them happens to involve recovery time. Injuries occurred in the past several seasons that were played through tended to take longer than just a day to heal. Madame Pomfrey suggested moving the games back a day to allow extra time, so students don't miss as much class."

"So when are the next games?" Harry asked.

"Not until February, actually. And then it will be held during the day on Friday - Albus has agreed to cancel classes for it. The last games of the season will be held in May, so the heat will not be a problem." She then shook her head. "Enough about that for now, though. I wanted to talk to you about the Ball."

"Sounds great, have fun with it," Harry said right away. His last experience with a Ball did not go very well at all. The Yule Ball during the Tri-Wizard tournament in his fourth year was more embarrassing than anything else, and he wanted nothing to do with another one. He'd have a better time sitting in his bed with his curtains drawn.

"Each House is picking a student from their House to lead the opening dance, so four partners in all. I would like the selected Gryffindor student to be you, Harry."

He stood up right away and held out his hands as he shook his head. "Nope, not gonna happen, don't bother going any further than that," he said quickly. "It was bad enough the last time," he added.

He was surprised when his Professor leaned forward a bit closer to him. "Malfoy is the Slytherin student chosen," she whispered. "And if he's going to be leading the Slytherin part, I need the best leading Gryffindor."

"I'm not the best," Harry said at once.

"Maybe not at following the rules," she allowed with a slight smile. "And maybe not in classes, where you are constantly borrowing Hermione's notes. But you are the best at dueling, and I can see him trying to pull something."

"Besides, Harry, the last time was two years ago," Hermione offered encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll feel a lot better this time." She looked away from him so she was no longer meeting his eye. "I'm sure you won't be hard pressed to find someone to go with you now."

"A chance to duel Malfoy... and not get a detention for it..." Harry mused to himself. "But I guess that's not assured, is it?" He didn't give anyone a chance to answer before he went on. "Look, I don't want to do this, Professor. However..." he sighed and sat down slowly. "You are taking the time to train Hermione and me, so I guess it would be the least I could do to repay the favour."

"Thank you, Harry. I suggest strongly that you take time during the next Hogsmeade trip to pick up new dress robes. There is a trip planned the day before the Ball, and Madame Rosemerta has promised that she will be able to do on the spot alterations for students." When Harry nodded, so did she. "You should also find a date, as you will need to lead the first dance of the Ball." McGonagall took a quick glance to Hermione before her eyes returned to Harry.

"Of course, Professor," Harry said simply. There was a pregnant pause then, and he was very aware of Hermione breathing louder than before, as well as one of his teacher's inkpots walking back and forth along the top of her bookshelf after being transfigured some time ago to pace. "Is there anything else?"

"I believe that is all, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger," she said, standing. Both Harry and Hermione stood as well and, after being offered another biscuit each, they walked out of the office and started towards the Gryffindor Tower.

They made it about halfway back in a comfortable silence until Harry suddenly stopped Hermione by pulling her into an empty classroom - Flitwick must have been in his office. As soon as the door was closed, he turned to her with obvious intent.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked. She suspected she knew anyway, but decided it best to let him ask on his own without any comments from her first.

"I've got a question for you, 'Mione. I rather serious one," he explained, not meeting her eye as though concerned about her reaction.

"Go on..."

Harry took a deep breath and looked up. "Do you think you could convince your parents to move to Grimmauld Place for a little while? Until after the holidays at least, maybe longer?"

"Of - " She stopped herself before saying anything else. That had not been the question she thought he was going to ask at all. She had assumed that he would have asked her to go to the Ball with him. "I... I guess so. Why?"

Harry sighed and made his way over to one of the windows, leaning against the stone sill and looking out to the grounds below. "Because I don't want you to have to go through any heartache about them. They could be targeted too, right?"

Her anxiety over the Ball evaporated at once as she leaned next to him, their shoulders touching as she, too, looked out to the grounds. He was right, and she had almost forgotten entirely about it. "I'll do everything I can to convince them. Are you sure you don't mind, though? I mean, it is your home, and it may be a little hard for us to be ourselves with them around."

"Are you saying they wouldn't approve of me?"

Hermione looked to him in surprise, and saw that he was grinning slightly, his eyes unfocused as he spoke. "You were kind of all I talked about all summer when I was with them, Harry. And most of what I talked about the summers beforehand. I doubt you could possibly live up to the expectations they're bound to have by now." When he looked to her quickly, she grinned in return and kissed him on the nose. "Got you."

"Ha ha."

She smiled genuinely to him and leaned against him. She felt his arm go around her automatically for a moment before he released her again. He never really held her casually for very long at all - unless he was upset, he didn't hug her for long periods, either. Although she understood that they were trying to keep their relationship under wraps for a while, it didn't mean she wouldn't like more from him every now and then, especially when they were hidden from view like they were just then.

"Thanks, Harry," she whispered, catching his hand as they left the room. "It means a lot to me to know that they will be safe."

"I know."

They walked most of the way back with their hands locked together, their fingers intertwined. As they approached the common room, though, the sound of other students made them separate quickly.

Inside, there were dozens of students still gathered in the large room. Many of them were fifth and seventh year students who had more homework than they could possibly imagine, but there were a few who were playing chess, exploding snaps, or just laughing with each other. Hermione saw Neville and Lavender close to the fireplace together, and couldn't help but smile.

_Well, it looks like Neville won't be asking Ginny to the Ball this time..._ Hermione's smile faded at that thought. _But is Harry going to ask me, or not? Maybe he's waiting for it to be announced first..._

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely noticed Harry moving until he was holding her, and she quickly wrapped her arms around him as well, wanting to savour the brief hug.

"Good night, 'Mione. Good luck on patrol, and when it is over, sleep well," Harry said. Then in a whisper, he went on. "And lightly." Without explaining himself, the Boy-Who-Lived went up the boys' side three steps at a time, and was out of sight.

Not feeling tired herself yet, Hermione went over to her table and opened her Arithmancy textbook to look up some information for an upcoming essay that was to be assigned next week. It wasn't going to write itself, after all.

As usual, no one bothered her at all while she was in her corner. Too many younger students had nearly lost their heads in the attempts earlier in the year, and the older students already knew of her fierce study habits, and never even tempted fate. When the large clock bonged ten times, she closed her book and left the common room to go patrol the corridors for students that were out of bed.

When she returned, she found the common room still half full. "Right, remember that there are classes tomorrow," she said in a voice that carried across the room. "So don't stay up too late," she added as she went up to her own room. She checked in the younger students' dorms as she went up, and was somehow not surprised to find that Kailyn was not in her bed. She was sure that she was still out with her grandfather somewhere. That only reminded her that she had found Harry alone with both of them, and had never asked what was going on. She would have to remember for another time.

Her own dorm was empty. Crookshanks met her as she entered, purring loudly until she picked the half-kneazle up and held him close before setting him down on her bed again. After a good stretch and a long yawn, she stripped out of her robes and pulled on her pajamas, climbing into bed when she was ready.

A faint buzzing sound woke her up hours later. As soon as her eyes opened, the buzzing stopped, replaced by a very soft whisper. She pulled her curtains aside and looked around the room. Everyone else was already in their beds and sleeping soundly - Pavarti was even mumbling something about some boy in Hufflepuff.

When the whisper said her name, she looked to her nightstand quickly, realisation dawning suddenly. She picked up the two way mirror and looking into the shimmering surface to find Harry looking back to her. "I thought I asked you to sleep lightly tonight," he whispered.

"I was tired," Hermione replied with a smile. "Sorry."

"Doesn't matter," Harry said with a shrug. "Not really, anyway. Ron's snoring over the years have made sure whispers can't be heard. Dean just senses movement, not talking."

"What do you want at this hour, Harry? It is the middle of the night."

"I could have guessed by your attire," Harry said with a grin. "That, and the fact that you were asleep." Hermione looked down and saw her light blue spaghetti strap tank top that she had on, and blushed a bit, moving the mirror up to show more of her face than anything else. She figured it was just as well that she wasn't wearing her usual sheer nightgown.

"You look pretty good yourself," she pointed out, barely able to believe she said it in the first place. She hadn't seen Harry without a shirt on for quite some time, but he must have been sleeping in just bottoms, because his bare chest was quiet obvious. It was also evident that Quidditch had done quite a bit for him, as he was rather well toned. "I hope you don't go calling on other girls this late at night dressed like that."

Harry held his left wrist before the mirror suddenly, revealing the sparkling gold. "This marks me as taken, 'Mione," he whispered. "Willingly and whole-heartily taken. You are the only one for me."

"I know," she said, a warm feeling spreading through her at his words anyway.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Would you mind... I mean... Would you accompany me to the November Ball?" he asked quickly.

Rather than the joy she had expected when he asked, Hermione actually frowned. "Why did you wait like this, Harry? I mean, you could have asked me in front of McGonagall, or even when you pulled me into the classroom. Why this late?"

Harry looked away from her. "I thought about it, but we had decided to keep what we have a secret for a while, remember?" Harry said softly, looking back to her. "And I thought that that meant the Ball, too. But then I decided that it didn't matter what everyone else thought... I want to be with you, 'Mione. Like you said, despite the risks."

Hermione's eyes were suddenly watery as she looked back to him with a broad smile on her face. "And I want to be with you, too, Harry. Are you sure you are okay with this?"

"I should be asking you that," Harry pointed out. "You'll only be in more danger because of this, right?" He then paused for a moment, biting his lower lip as though in thought. He had once told her that he thought it endearing when she did it, and was surprised to see that he might have picked up a few traits from her along the way. "I don't want anyone else to know until the Ball, though."

"Why not?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"I don't want you targeted."

It was not the first time that night that Hermione frowned at him. "I thought we had discussed this, Harry. It is my decision, isn't it?"

He sighed and nodded. "I know. But that doesn't mean I won't worry."

"So long as it doesn't keep us apart, I don't mind you worrying. I worry about you all the time anyway," Hermione reminded him. "So I guess that would only be fair. But you have a point. We wouldn't mention it to anyone until we walk in together."

There was a silence between the two of them, and as Hermione looked into Harry's eyes through the mirror, she couldn't help but feel a little closed off. Often, she would get a sensational feeling when they made eye contact, but through the mirrors it wasn't the same at all.

"I never thanked you," Harry said suddenly.

"For what?"

"For a lot of things," Harry admitted. "But I was talking about rescuing me from the Chamber of Secrets. I apologized, but I never thanked you," he explained. After a brief pause, he smiled to her again. "So thanks."

Hermione nodded, but didn't say anything.

Harry looked away suddenly, as though afraid that someone was up, but looked back after a moment. "Neville rolling over," he explained with a shrug. "So... how bout it, 'Mione? Will you come with me to the Ball?"

"I'd love to."

----------------------

Well, that would be the word from within **The Shadows**.


	17. The November Ball

I suppose I should also mention that there will be a different language cropping up every now and again – the language of the elves. This is made by me (after a lot of time and research) and is therefore copywritten by me. If you want more information about it, please contact me. Same goes for other things that I've mentioned earlier – the elven culture, Talisien, Fey, Kailyn, the dagger, time wolves, etc...

Harry Potter remains in the hands of others (mainly JK Rowling).

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Chapter Seventeen: The November Ball

It was amazing, really, how much had changed in the course of a couple of short months at Hogwarts. Although Ron still spoke with his mouth full on more occasions than not, he seemed to have lost his second-place attitude, for which Harry was immensely grateful, especially once the Ball was announced.

Rather than helping himself to food right away, the first thing Ron did was approach the Ravenclaw table, get down on one knee, and ask Luna to accompany him to the Ball, right in front of everyone. She said yes, of course, but Harry couldn't help but stare at him in surprise anyway.

"See mate," Ron said simply, sitting down at helping himself to half of the pancakes on the platter in front of him. "Simple matter, really. You asked anyone yet?" he asked, looking around at the several girls who seemed to be eyeing Harry carefully. "I doubt you'll have a hard time this year."

"McGonagall wants me to lead the Gryffindors in," Harry muttered under his breath as he reached for a pitcher of juice. "Just like I lead Hogwarts in for the Yule Ball," he added when Ron started to choke on his mouthful.

Once he had managed to get his breath back, he looked to Harry in amazement. "And you agreed?" he asked. "What possibly could have made you do that? You know how horrible it was last time?"

"I know," Harry muttered, propping his head up in one hand as he stirred around some syrup on his plate. "I need a date again, too," he added as he caught Hermione's eye. She wasn't sitting right next to him this morning, as Ron had already sat next to him on one side, and Dean on the other.

"No problem," Ron said with a grin. "Just ask Ginny. She and Dean are history, right mate?" he asked, leaning around Harry to poke the other sixth year in the arm.

"It never would've worked," Dean admitted. "Can't blame a bloke for trying, though. Your sister is..."

"I'd stop right there, Dean," Harry said quickly when he saw something flash before Ron's eyes. "And I'm not asking her, Ron," he muttered quickly so only he could hear.

"Got your eyes on someone already, then?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe. I'll figure it out later, that's all. You really think I'll have no trouble?"

Ron pointed out six different girls in Gryffindor alone who were staring at him before turning to other tables to start pointing out others. Many of the girls seemed more interested in staring at him than eating the food that was in front of him. "They know you were telling the truth last year now, Harry. This year, you are practically a hero, remember?"

"And you're fine with that?"

"You get to deal with Snape still. I think that evens us out nicely, don't you?"

"I still think you've got the better end of the stick with that one."

Harry barely paid any attention in Potions that morning, which was never a really good idea. Fortunately, Hermione still seemed on top of her game, and managed to add the rest of the ingredients for the Drought properly even without his help. He was barely holding himself back from leaving class to hunt down Seamus and Dean, both of whom had asked Hermione to the Ball as soon as breakfast was over.

He himself had been asked by a Hufflepuff that he didn't know, but no one else. "I think I might start borrowing Kirke's beater club," he whispered to Hermione as they left the class later on. "If this morning was any indication, anyway."

"Don't worry, Harry," Hermione whispered back. "I don't plan on accepting any other invitations. Ron was right though... maybe you should give _me_ that beater stick... or I could take Sloper's..."

Harry just tapped his wrist to remind her of the bracelet again, and she smiled as they walked into Charms. That didn't stop her from shooting daggers at Pavarti for all of Charms, as she had asked Harry to the Ball the moment he stepped into the class.

"Shouldn't they wait until we aren't walking together anyway?" Harry whispered as he pulled out his textbook for the class. "I mean, doesn't that seem a little strange? How do they know we didn't ask each other?"

"Honestly, Harry, after all the denying we both did in fourth and fifth year, I think it finally got through their heads that there is nothing between us," she said, a sparkle in her brown eyes as she spoke. Harry missed whatever she was saying next as he simply looked into her eyes.

They worked on a charm to levitate a person in a full body bind properly that class. Professor Flitwick admitted that such a thing was rarely necessary, but was very good to know if anyone was injured severely anyway.

It was in the common room that night that everything almost fell apart. As soon as Hermione went off to her corner and Harry started towards Ron for a game of chess, he found Ginny standing directly in front of him. "Everything alright, Harry?" she asked pointedly.

"I guess," Harry said with a shrug, well aware that Hermione was no longer reading, but keeping a careful eye on what was going on. "I'm not planning on running off again, if that's what's worrying you."

"It's not. Are you planning on going to the Ball this year?" she asked. It was then that Harry noticed the entire common room seemed to have gone quiet... he couldn't even really hear the fire crackling in the fireplace. He was well aware that probably half the room was watching them suddenly.

He shrugged as calmly as possible. "I don't have much choice, do I? I'm suppose to lead the Gryffindors in, or haven't you heard? But I'll wait to ask someone for a while. Less people left to disappoint by the time I ask - sorry about last time, by the way, Lavender," he said as he remembered, turning to her. She smiled, and caught his eyes motioning frantically at Ginny before he turned back. "How about you? Found someone to go with, yet?"

"Would you go with me?" Ginny asked, looking straight into his eyes. Harry felt his heart drop instantly. He had hoped that she was over her feelings for him, because he certainly had none for her - at least, none that involved romantic intentions. She was like a sister.

He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, Denis interrupted them. "Hey Ginny, any chance you could give me a hand with this Charm's essay? You did well in this class last year, right?"

She whirled on him in an instant, scowling. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something here? Give me a minute, and then we'll see!" She turned back to Harry, looking for an answer, and found that he was no longer there. Whipping around to the dormitories, she saw his legs disappearing up the steps.

Hermione waited just a few minutes before looking over to Lavender, who seemed to be playing with Crookshanks. She had really taken to the half kneazle, as had the rest of the girls in her year. She smiled to her, and Lavender just nodded her head in understanding.

------------------

Even though Hermione did not accept any other invitations, and even though Harry denied that he was going with her on more than one occasion, after the next DA class, none of the boys who were a part of it would even glance in Hermione's direction if the topic of the ball came up. Harry had gone a little harder on both Dean and Colin, as well as Denis and Terry. By then, anyone who had been thinking about it had the general idea and stayed well enough alone.

By the time the trip to Hogsmeade had rolled around, Harry had managed to dodge Ginny a total of three more times thanks, mostly, to Ron and his supposed poor sense of timing. He must have taken Harry's message to heart, though, as he kept asking Ginny who had asked her every time she tried to ask Harry to go with her. During that time, Harry would slip away again, and later would tell her that he was trying to keep from falling behind in his studies or upsetting Ron.

The trip itself to Hogsmeade was especially difficult, given that Harry and Hermione had decided not to go together. Harry found himself wishing that Ron had been wrong earlier when he said that so many girls seemed to be paying attention to him now. It was more than a little difficult for him to get fitted for new dress robes, and he didn't have a chance to do as much as he would have liked while in town. He had time for one extra stop, but that was it.

The night before the ball, Harry sought out Kailyn to ask for another lesson. It was the best way he could think of to avoid running into Ginny in the common room again, as he was sure that nothing would distract her at this late a date.

The door had barely shut in the Defense classroom before Kailyn had drawn both her swords and was attacking Harry again, though still much slower than he had seen her fighting her grandfather earlier in the year. He leapt backwards, staying on his toes so he could keep moving quickly, and drew his dagger.

He met her second charge with one of his own, watching her collarbone carefully. He ducked her first sword and her second clashed with his own blade as he pushed back against it. She smiled lightly at his determination, and took a step back to gauge him before her next action.

The two circled each other slowly, Harry keeping his eyes as steady as possible just below her neck. She had a point earlier - he could easily see all her movement by watching that one point. He was glad that she wasn't a bit older - and therefore developed - as he was sure he wouldn't have been able to look at her so carefully if she was. She was right as well in that she wasn't asking him to stare at her chest, just above it.

She vanished suddenly, and he felt a hard kick in the back of one of his legs, causing him to buckle instantly. He cursed the waywatcher training as he pushed off the ground with his still steady leg and ended up on his back with her standing over him. He had a hold of one of her blades with his dagger, and was holding the wrist of her other hand with his free hand.

Using his defense as leverage, she pushed off the ground and flipped over him, landing just inches from his head as she spun around again. He rolled to the side and continued to roll as she tried to catch him. When he finally stopped, he was breathing hard and pulled himself to his feet before she could come forward again.

She had her blades sheathed again, but he wasn't going to take that as any indication right away. "What was all that about?" he asked in between heavy breaths. "It was like you were actually trying to kill me!"

"I was training you to be prepared," Kailyn said with a smile. "Besides, you kept up pretty good, so why are you complaining?"

"It wasn't exactly what I expected, that's all," Harry admitted. "I thought we were just working with the blades."

"You do need a lot of work with that, still. But you are improving - however slowly - and your ability to adapt is nothing short of incredible." She then turned away and started towards the door. "But then, you've had lots of practice with that, right? You seem distracted tonight, so we'll leave it for now."

"I'm worried," Harry blurted out before he could stop himself. She stopped instantly and turned back to him. "I mean, not about this, this helps like Talisien said it would. It does take my mind away... but I can't help myself. Tomorrow could be very dangerous - I'm putting Hermione in more danger than ever before."

"But she is accepting that risk, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"Then do not worry yourself. Tomorrow will be safe, I will assure you of that. No one will try anything during the Ball. Or rather, if they try, they may find themselves more than a little put out for a while."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that my grandfather has a good friend who will be there, whether anyone else knows it or not. And he'll be there with Fey, so I doubt Malfoy would try anything anyway. She'll be inside the Great Hall the full time, keeping an eye on things."

"But what about after that? Or outside the Hall?"

"Whatever will be, will be."

"That's not much of a help, you know."

Kailyn shook her head as she drew her swords again. "She trusts you. I trust you, and I've known you a lot less time. Everyone in the DA trusts you. Even Professor Dumbledore trusts you. What's wrong?"

"What if I fail? I will have let everyone down!"

A look of understanding flashed before Kailyn's eyes, and she came in slowly to attack again. He caught her blade easily, and pushed it aside to deal with her other sword. He spun to her side and waited, ready again. "You do not trust yourself then, do you Harry?"

"There is so much at stake, how can it be that simple?"

"Keep an open mind, and everything will be clear," she said in a flat voice. "The first of the training mantras." She attacked again with some power, and Harry was forced to take a step back to avoid her second blade.

Rather than give her another opportunity to attack again, he continued around her and attacked, carefully keeping his hips back as he dagger came in. She stopped his blade, but he pushed through the defense and spun her blade around quickly as he remembered her doing in their last session. She was obviously surprised by the action, as she dropped her sword at the pressure.

"I'll try to remember that."

He wasn't aware of blinking, but it was the impression he got a split second later when his dagger was on the ground as well. "You learn quickly," she said with a grin, retrieving her weapon and sheathing both again. "Despite what you are telling everyone, you are taking your mate to the Ball, aren't you?"

"Why do you keep calling her that?" Harry asked as his face flushed. He doubted she was purposefully implying anything, but that didn't help much.

"She is your partner, you have given your commitment to her by donning the bracelet. Even if you haven't... uh... gone that far, you are still together. What would you prefer I call her?"

"Well, her name is Hermione," Harry said sarcastically as he sheathed his dagger.

"I will not be calling her _your_ Hermione. She is not an object."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Never mind," he conceded. "Call her my mate, if that makes sense to you. Just don't call her that in front of everyone else - they might get the wrong idea."

Kailyn nodded, but didn't move. "You aren't nearly as skillful at avoiding questions as you might think," she pointed out when he started around her to leave.

"What?"

"You are taking her, aren't you?"

Harry nodded, causing her to smile. "There is no one I would rather be with."

---------------------

Around three in the afternoon on the day of the Ball, Harry disappeared from the common room very quickly and quietly, before anyone could say anything to him. He caught Hermione's eye just before he left, and then was gone, carrying a bundle with him.

He was very pleased to discover earlier in the day that Colin Creevy had asked Ginny to the Ball yesterday, and, as she was desperate not to go alone, she accepted, even though she had wanted to go with Harry. Ron suspected that Harry had found a date already, but no one really knew what was going on.

As soon as the portrait swung shut behind him, he walked down the corridor and down several flights of stairs until he arrived at the empty classroom that Professor McGonagall had told him he could use as a changing room for the night.

The first thing Harry did, after sealing the door with a Colloportus charm, was to deposit his load onto the teacher's desk. He then removed his belt and carefully wrapped it around his dagger before setting it on a chair as well.

It took him considerably longer to get into the dress robes than he had anticipated. Rather than the simple robes that they wore for school, his dress robes had several parts to them, and it was not always obvious what went where.

In the end, he discovered that, while the main deep red part of the robes was fairly obvious, the extra pieces of fabric ended up either tying around his waist, draping over his shoulder to tie as a sash, or a combination of the two. When he was finished, he looked at himself in the full-length mirror that had been placed in the room, and couldn't help but grin a little.

A golden waistband and a red and gold trimmed sash complemented the rich red robes. The last part of the robes, which Harry thought was suspiciously like a shawl, draped over his shoulders and around the back of his neck to hang in front, and was a deep, shadow black. It was very odd not to have sleeves with his robes for once, but he couldn't help but notice how well his bracelet went with his robes. Hopefully everyone else would agree...

He wasn't entirely sure where to put his wand or his dagger, but as he thought it, he found that the robe had a holster for a wand installed along both legs, and so that part was obvious, and he slipped it into the right-hand side. The dagger was a little trickier, but he managed to secure it to the waistband with a simple bonding charm.

Nervously, he ran a hand through his black hair and smiled at his reflection. There was nothing he could do about the hair, and he knew it. He piled his school robes up in a chair and rolled his belt up and tucked it into one of the pockets in his robes before turning to the door. The robes had half a dozen pockets, and now two were used.

He opened it just as Professor McGonagall was raising a hand to knock. "Good day, Mr. Potter. You look quite sharp, if I might say so."

"Thanks, Professor," Harry said with a grin. "You don't look half bad yourself. Not at all like a teacher, anyway." She was dressed in a single piece flowing set of robes that appeared to be made from a soft material, and were red and gold as well - her choice to represent her House. Harry had chosen the same colours for the same reasons.

"I'll take that as the compliment that you obviously intended it as, shall I?" she said with a curt nod. "Now, I believe Miss Granger is waiting for you by the main entrance to the Great Hall." She suddenly frowned as she looked over him. "You do have a flower for her, don't you, Harry?"

Harry groaned inwardly. He knew he was forgetting something, but hadn't been able to place his finger on just what. "Professor, I - "

"Never mind," she said quickly, withdrawing her wand and waving it before him. A single red rose appeared, and Harry took it from the air before it could fall to the ground. "There you are. Make Gryffindor House proud, Harry."

"I wouldn't do any less, Professor." When she nodded to him, he took a deep breath and started towards the Great Hall, one hand resting against the hilt to his dagger subconsciously as he walked. The sound of a lot of students gathering came to his ears the closer he got, and when he rounded the last bend, he found the corridor outside the Great Hall packed with students already. They parted before him slowly as they noticed him, and he saw another group part apart to give Terry Boot passage.

"You too, Harry?" Terry asked with a grin as they met up near the centre and started towards the double doors. "I guess I should have expected that, though, right?"

"Keep your eyes open tonight, Terry," Harry muttered. "McGonagall appointed me because Malfoy's it for Slytherin - no surprise there - and she thinks he might try to pull something."

"I'll let other members of the DA know when I see them," Terry promised. "Who are you here with?"

"How about you?"

As they reached the doors, Terry nudged Harry in the arm. "I knew you were taking her. Ever since you chose to show me what I was doing wrong with that bludgeoning spell in the DA."

"Julia?" Harry whispered back, nodding to the beater for Ravenclaw who was obviously Terry's date. "Congrats."

"Thanks."

When Harry laid his eyes on Hermione, everything else on his mind melted away and he could only stare. If he had thought she had gone all out for the Yule Ball, he must have been sadly mistaken.

She was wearing a dark red and light blue combination robe that must have been made from silk the way it clung to her form. Her sash was golden with blue clouds covering it, and seemed to drip off her. She had done her hair up again, and he figured she must have taken hours - or a lot of complicated spells and help - to get it to stay that way. It had been straightened first, and then teased up behind her into a bun that looked like a flower blossoming. There were several strands of hair that framed her face, and he then noticed that she was smiling broadly.

Her bracelet stood out on her bare arms as much as his did.

He offered her the rose that he was holding as soon as he was close enough, and she took it gracefully, lifting it to her nose and closing her eyes to smell. Harry wasn't exactly sure what happened next, as he was too intent on looking at her, but then the rose was attached to her robes, the stem cut down so it wouldn't get in the way.

"You look amazing, 'Mione," Harry said softly as he took an extra step towards her.

"You look pretty dashing yourself, Harry," she admitted, looking into his emerald eyes carefully. He could feel the warmth in her own eyes as he looked back, and then he held out an arm to her, and she linked hers with his. "Thanks."

"Shall we, my lady?"

Harry was only vaguely aware of Malfoy joining him at the front with Pansy Parkinson, especially given that Ernie appeared at the same time with Hannah on his arm. He saw Terry mutter something to Ernie, who then flashed a look at Malfoy quickly before looking back.

Harry nodded, and looked back to Hermione just as the double doors spread wide. There were streamers floating in the air, and candles of all different colours - both the candle stick and the flames themselves - floating in the air as well. There were small tables set up around the centre of the Hall, but for the most part, there was large empty space. Harry could see a band set up at the far end, and smiled nervously to Hermione.

"We'll be fine," she said, sensing his discomfort. "I mean, even if you can't dance, I'm not terrible, and I'm sure we can pull through it."

"Thanks a lot," Harry muttered sarcastically.

"We're together. What more do you need?" Hermione asked, flashing him a smile.

Harry couldn't help but smile at that, and then the Headmaster's voice filled the Great Hall and the corridor beyond. "Leading in the brave House of Gryffindor are sixth years Harry Potter and Hermione Granger!"

Hermione started forward first, and, after a brief tug, Harry was walking beside her as well. They were followed by a long stream of other Gryffindor students who lined the walls of the Hall while the two made their way to the dance floor.

"Leading in the intelligent House of Ravenclaw is fifth year Terry Boot and sixth year Julia Carmichael!" Harry and Hermione both nodded to the two as they joined them on the dance floor, and watched as more students poured in to fill the Hall.

"Leading in the ambitious House of Slytherin are sixth years Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson!" Harry very carefully met Malfoy's cold eyes as he joined the four on the dance floor, and he felt a chill at the contact. Hermione squeezed his arm to reassure him, and he took a deep breath and calmed himself down without looking to her.

"And last but certainly not least, leading in our caring House of Hufflepuff are sixth year students Ernie MacMillian and Hannah Abbot!" Harry met Ernie and Hannah's eyes, and saw them both nod to Hermione as well before turning to each other as they joined the three couples on the dance floor.

The great double doors closed with a bang once all the students were inside. Harry felt an odd jolt of power as the sound died down, and looked directly into the corner next to the doors as the source of the surge. There was nothing there, though, and the feeling of Hermione pulling him closer sent his thoughts out the window.

As the slow opening dance music started up, he could only thank everything with all of his being that he was there, holding Hermione close as they shuffled their feet across the floor, absorbed only in each other.

When the song ended, Harry pulled Hermione into an embrace and took a deep breath, revelling in her scent. When they separated, he looked down to her and smiled. "Thank you," he mouthed.

"Anytime," she replied, leaning up to give him a brief kiss on the cheek before they parted and moved away from the centre of the dance floor.

"And with that song, the November Ball is begun!" Dumbledore's voice called out. "To every student, enjoy yourselves!"

Much to his surprise, Harry stayed on the dance floor for quite some time after the first dance was over. He even did so willingly, given that he was in Hermione's arms so long as he danced. He knew he wasn't much of a dancer, but that didn't seem to matter to the girl before him. They said very little, but understood what they weren't saying at the same time. They were together, and no one would ever question that again.

"Harry," a voice hissed to him suddenly. He tore his gaze away from Hermione to find Terry dancing carefully next to him with Julia. "Susan, Neville, Dean and I have all heard a few things. Come off the bloody floor for a minute so we can talk to you."

Harry looked back to Hermione, who nodded. "We have been out her for a long time," she admitted with a grin. "But it's been fun."

"Too right it has," Harry agreed. "Why can't anything like that last?"

"It will," she reassured him as they followed Terry and Julia.

As soon as they were off the floor, the band - Harry thought they were the same from the Yule Ball, the "Weird Sisters," started a slow song, and he kicked himself mentally as he sat down. At the table with him were Terry and Julia, then Neville and Lavender, and Susan Bones with Anthony Goldstein.

"We heard the warning you gave Terry earlier," Neville said at once before any preamble. "And a few of us have been listening to the Slytherins. They are planning something, for the moment you step outside, Harry."

Harry closed his eyes very carefully and subconsciously put a hand over one of his pockets. "And how do they know I'm planning on going outside?"

"Well, it is where couples go for a bit of seclusion, right?"

"Just what kind of woman do they take me for?" Hermione asked in shock. "I mean, I can see going out there, but we wouldn't..."

"We know, Hermione," Lavender said. "We're just telling you what we know. Congrats, by the way. Glad you two can stop pretending now and actually spend time together."

"It is wonderful," Susan agreed. "Though it would have been nice to know that Harry was off the market before I made a fool of myself," she admitted with a grin to Harry. She had been among the girls who had accosted him in Hogsmeade. "I should have opened my eyes a little more, that's all," she said before he could reply. "Only the really clueless wouldn't have seen something by then."

"You guys can't even enjoy the dance because of me, though," Harry pointed out.

"Nonsense!" Anthony countered with a laugh. "Spying on the Slytherins is very enjoyable, if you must know!" He then leaned in and whispered something in Susan's ear, causing her to go bright red and hit him in the shoulder, but she said nothing.

"Harry?" Harry looked away from Hermione would had just reached out and clasped his hand, and found Julia leaning a little closer to him. "Any chance I can get in on your group? I mean, Terry didn't say anything, but..."

"Do you heal, attack, counter, or charm?" Hermione asked at once.

"Um..." she sat back for a moment to think. "I did get an Outstanding for my Charms OWL, and I think I'd be good at that. Why?"

"We're short one member of Charms team," she said, looking to Harry.

He looked back into her eyes, and after a moment, he nodded and looked away and back to Julia. "Speak to me at breakfast tomorrow... or maybe lunch would be better. Anyway, then I'll tell you more and let you decide. Sound good?"

"Thanks, Harry."

"Yeah, thanks mate," Terry added, punching Harry in the arm lightly. "You really are the greatest."

Harry smiled and shook his head. Before he could reply, though, the lights dimmed and the large double doors opened slowly. The dancing stopped and even the music died down as all eyes turned to the opening.

Four tall beings in green cloaks walked in the door, two standing on either side. A fifth walked through the opening provided and pulled out a large parchment. "Presenting Lord Talisien of Oak and his Lady Fey Rowan, Rulers of Noyadin." He then rolled up the parchment and stepped to the side as two figures were framed in the doorway.

To say it was a shock was a serious understatement. First of all, Talisien was not wearing his cloak for once, nor was he wearing his gloves. His ring, bracelet, and a medallion around his neck were plainly visible as well. His longsword was also at his side for the world to see. He was wearing a green silk shirt with a collar and a dark green, almost black jacket that seemed to be woven out of leaves from a very large tree. His slacks were black as well, and were straight and simple. He was wearing brown leather boots with fur lining the top. On the top of his head was a simple golden circlet.

The elfwoman at his side was dressed in a single green silk dress, the top slightly brighter than the flowing bottom. There was a sword at her side as well. Her dress was tight enough to reveal some of her figure, but was high cut to show very little of her pale skin. Unlike Talisien, however, her arms were bare, clearly showing her bracelet. She also wore a ring and a golden necklace with two rubies and a diamond in the amulet at the centre. Like Talisien, she had a simple golden circlet on the top of her head, which was almost invisible as it matched the colour of her hair.

The two paused next to the elf who had introduced them. "You will pay for this, Tirduain," Talisien's voice sounded. "You know how much I hate formal events."

"I realize that, sire, but there are times when it is necessary."

The crowd of students on the dance floor parted for the two elves as they approached, and the two walked deliberately across the floor to join many of the teachers at the staff table. Students crowded around the large table instantly, trying to speak with the Wanderer about quite a few different things.

Harry reached out and grabbed for Hermione's hand. She looked to him instantly, and he took a deep breath before saying anything. "I know that Malfoy's planning something if we go outside, but I really want to speak with you privately. Is that possible? It looks like most people are a little distracted right now."

"Is something wrong?" she asked, concerned.

Harry shook his head. "I hope not. But I..."

"I'm coming, Harry," she promised, standing up as he did.

They managed to get about four steps before finding their path blocked by a fiery redhead who seemed very upset. Both braced themselves as they kept walking towards her - they had known it was coming all night and were actually surprised that it hadn't happened earlier.

"So..." Harry started, looking from the angry Ginny to a worried Hermione and back. "How are you enjoying the Ball so far?" 'Smooth, Potter. Smooth.'

"I think I'd be enjoying it a whole lot more if you hadn't been lying to me for the last few weeks!" Ginny said angrily. "You let me make a fool out of myself everyday since the Ball was announced! Did you have fun laughing at me behind my back!"

"Calm down, Gin, it's not like that," Hermione said.

"_Don't_ call me that," Ginny said fiercely. "Only my close, trusted friends can call me that!" she added in a snarl.

"That's not fair, Ginny," Harry said quickly. He could tell how deep her comment had cut Hermione without even looking to her. "We never laughed at you, and we..."

"You what? Tell me, how long have you two been together, anyway? Was that Skeeter woman right? Or has is been even longer than that?"

"You're making a scene, Gin," Harry said quietly. "Can we talk about this later?"

"I don't know, Harry, will you lie to me then, too?"

"I - "

"Well, I'd say my sister beat me to it," Ron's voice cut in before either Harry or Hermione could reply. They looked to each other briefly before turning to find Ron stalking towards them, Luna right behind him trying to hold him back. "My best friends lying to me! Me! Is Ginny right? Have you two been seeing each other for that long behind our backs?"

"Bugger, Ron, do you really think that little of us?"

"I used to fancy her, Harry!" Ron said fiercely in a low voice. "And you knew it."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment before meeting Ron's piercing gaze. "Do you still?"

"I..." The question seemed to have caught Ron off guard, and he looked from Harry to Hermione and back again. "I..."

"I think you are trying to say that you are with Luna now and couldn't be happier, right mate?" Harry asked in a forced voice. "Because, I'm sorry Ron, but I'm not going to leave her just because you are mad at me."

"Why did you do it?" Ginny demanded, cutting in again. "Why would you lie? Why would you - " Before either party knew what was going on, her eyes suddenly glazed over and she fell backwards, right into Colin's waiting arms.

"You owe me one, Harry. I slipped her a sleeping drought in her drink just after she decided to head you two off," Colin explained. "I'll be paying for that in the morning, I'm sure." He must have had a bit more strength than Harry had assumed, as he picked the small girl up in his arms and carried her over to the side of the Hall.

"Don't kill him either, Ron," Harry said threateningly, looking back to the other Weasley.

"She was getting too worked up," Ron admitted. "But she does have good reason. Why did you hide it? Why didn't you at least tell me?"

"Surely you aren't _that_ thick, Ron!" Hermione butted in. "Just think about it for a minute, would you?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute... alone?" Ron asked, looking away from Hermione to Harry. Harry glanced to Hermione who, after a moment of eye contact, nodded and took a few steps away with Luna. Ron then leaned in closer to Harry. "You know what I'm going to say, mate?"

"Something about if I hurt her, you'll hunt me down? Going big brother on me, Ron?"

"This isn't quite how I expected to go 'big brother,'" Ron admitted. "But it fits - Hermione's like a sister to me. You hurt her, and I'll..."

"I know," Harry stopped him. "And I'll let you." He then glanced over to the two girls. "But you know, to be fair..."

"I didn't think you and Luna got along that well," Ron pointed out.

"She helped me through a couple of difficult times," Harry admitted. "But I never thought of her like that. Over the summer, I actually found myself thinking of her as a sister - much like Ginny."

"I'll let you hex me into oblivion if I hurt her," Ron promised.

"Good." Harry then took a step back. "Are we alright, now?"

Ron sighed and looked away. "Hard to say, mate. You've given me a shock, and I need some time to get over it. But I will." He then looked back to Harry. "How long?"

"It started on my birthday, but we didn't do much until after our first Quidditch game. That Saturday was our first date," Harry admitted freely. Ron simply nodded and motioned Luna back over. With a nod to both Harry and Hermione, the two left.

"Everything alright, Harry?" Hermione asked as she put a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. She was surprised by how calm he still looked, and she knew it wasn't just an act.

"Ron and I came to an understanding," Harry explained. "Do you think we can make it outside without anything else going wrong?"

"We do seemed cursed sometimes," Hermione said with a grin as they started towards the side door at the back of the room again. They slipped out easily enough, and Harry pushed open the main doors to Hogwarts and motioned Hermione through ahead of him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kailyn's words about the Ball being safe echoed, reminding him again that the grounds were probably not quite so protectect, but he didn't care.

They stopped in the middle of the field, and Harry looked up to the stars above them. "It's a silent world sometimes, isn't it?" he asked quietly, looking over to her as she looked up. "The light of the stars shine down upon you and me."

After a moment, she looked back down and found him staring at her. She blushed and looked away. "So, what did you want to talk about out here?"

Harry didn't reply, but held out one of his hands a little further so she would notice it. Looking down, she saw that he was holding a long, thin white box. "I owled Remus, and then spoke to him through the fireplace," he started, and then fell silent again, looking away from her.

"Shall we sit down?" Hermione suggested.

"Thanks, 'Mione," Harry said after they were on the ground. "Might be easier this way. Less tempting to run away. Or at least, a lot harder."

"Why would you want to run?"

"Because I don't know if I can say this or not."

Hermione met Harry's eyes again, and smiled to him. "You know I'm not going anywhere, right?" she asked.

Harry smiled and took a deep breath. "I spoke to Remus, and he promised me - swearing with a wizard's oath - that if anything ever happened to me, he would do whatever he could to help you," he said in a rush. "It wasn't the greatest of conversations, but it was important. I also spoke to Fred and George, who promised the same thing."

"Harry, what - "

He held a finger to her lips before she could say anything else, and held out the box again. Gingerly, she took it and removed the lid. Inside was a golden necklace with a four gemstones grouped together as a pendant. The largest was clearly a ruby, but surrounding it in perfect harmony was also a sapphire, a piece of agate, and a moonstone.

She held the necklace up in front of her, admiring it for a moment, before looking to Harry for more of an explanation. "It is the second vow of the elven ritual," Harry said. "A promise that family will always protect you, even if I can't be around to do it."

"Oh, Harry," she breathed, clasping the necklace firmly and throwing her arms around him to hug him tightly. When she finally pulled away, she looked at the necklace again. "I think I understand two of the stones... ruby for your birth stone, and sapphire for mine. What about the other two?"

"Actually..." Harry said with a grin. "The sapphire, agate, and moonstone are all your birth stones. The sapphire is your modern birth stone, the agate is the mystical one, which I thought was fitting considering how angelic I think you are..." He trailed off as he saw tears in her eyes, and swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, 'Mione, I didn't mean..."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Harry," she whispered, wiping at her tears feebly. "I'm sorry... it's just that no one ever said that about me before..."

"It's true," Harry insisted. "I know it is." He paused for a moment until she started fingering the moonstone, and then he went on. "The moonstone is actually the ayurvedic birth stone of September," he explained. "The healing stone. I thought it was fitting, too, and since I couldn't decide, I just went for all of them."

"Would you put it on me?" she asked in a whisper, holding it out to him. He fumbled a bit with the clasp, but once he was certain he knew how to work he, he turned to her again and put his arms around her to do up the necklace. He then let it fall to her chest and cupped her face with one hand before pulling away suddenly and looking away from her. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered.

"It means everything I said it does," he promised her. He turned back to her then and held her close for a moment. She sighed into him and smiled, putting a hand on his chest as she did so. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Harry released her and pulled away.

She looked to him, confused by his actions. "What's wrong, Harry?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head.

"Then why don't you want to hold me?" she prodded him, hoping to finally get an answer to her unvoiced question. It had been a growing concern of hers for quite some time, given that he rarely even had held her when they were alone before. He seemed to be almost trying to avoid physical contact of any kind. "Do you find me that repulsive?" she asked quietly, looking away from him.

"Never," he insisted quickly. "I just..."

"Just what, Harry?" she pressed.

Harry looked away from her and sighed. "I'm not used to it, 'Mione," he whispered. "You were the first person to ever hug me, back in first year," he added. "Before that, the only time anyone ever touched me was to hurt me. All I know about touching others is hurt. I want to hold you, but I'm... afraid."

"You're afraid of me?"

"No," Harry said quickly. "Afraid of me. I don't know what I'm doing... even though holding you seems so natural to me, it still doesn't seem right in my mind. It feels like I'm invading your personal space, just like everyone always did to me when I was younger. I hated it."

"You aren't invading it," she whispered. "I'm inviting you in. If I didn't want you to hold me, I'd tell you. But I like it. Even though you don't know... you are so gentle and caring anyway, and I don't think I'll ever understand why. I'm just glad." She paused for a moment, and then frowned slightly. "I'm saying this in case you 've got some foolish plan in your head - I'd much rather be with you than being taken care of by Remus, Fred, and George. Family couldn't replace you."

Harry didn't reply to that. He just looked to her for a moment, deep into her chocolate eyes, and found the warmth there that he had drawn upon so many times in the past. Biting back his own fear, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers again - the second time he had ever initiated a kiss between them. He pulled back after the briefest of moments, and smiled to her.

The sound of slow clapping drew his attention away from Hermione, and he saw one person standing close to them, sneering down at them. Behind him were two larger boys, and Harry closed his eyes carefully, trying in vain to push back the anger that was already building. He stood quickly, and knew that Hermione had stood up behind him.

"If I ever see something that disgusting again, I want you to kill me," Malfoy slurred, looking to both Crabbe and Goyle. He then looked back to Harry. "I told you that kissing her would have been too much..."

"Don't go there, Malfoy," Harry said harshly. He heard the large doors open again, and chanced a glance over to see a crowd of students pouring out onto the grounds. He also saw several teachers. "I don't want to fight you."

"Good, then that'll make this easy," Malfoy sneered. "Before any of your friends get here, I can curse you and the mudblood."

Harry glanced to Hermione out of the corner of his eye, seeking her permission before engaging Malfoy. She must have seen him move, because she nodded discretely, and Harry took a step forward. "I told you never to call her that again," Harry said angrily.

"How touching," Malfoy laughing, withdrawing his wand. "You need her permission to fight first... truly a sad sight, a mudblood controlling a wizard like that. Your father would be ashamed."

"Don't mock my parents!" Harry said, taking his own wand out instantly. "Don't forget, my mother was muggle born, too!"

"Yes, I suppose falling for mudbloods runs in your family, doesn't it?"

"Voldemort is even worse than me in that regard!" Harry said. Even as he spoke, he could only curse himself mentally for comparing himself to the vile creature. "He was born of a wizard and a muggle, not even of a muggle born witch!"

"He's a pure blood!" Malfoy argued.

"Just as much as Hermione," Harry countered.

"Petrificus totalus!" Malfoy cried, pointing his wand at Harry.

"Protego!" The shield bounced the curse into the air, where it spun up harmlessly into the night. "Take back the insults, before I make it so you can't!" Harry growled at him.

"Stupefy!"

Harry stepped to the side of the red light, certain that Hermione was at the sidelines already, even as a group of students had surrounded them. He could hear Professor McGonagall's voice crying through the crowd, but he tuned it out. He wasn't going to sit there and take someone trying to curse him.

"Tarantallegra!" Harry cried, sending the jelly legs curse at Malfoy. The Slytherin student put up his own protego shield, and then attacked again with a bludgeoning spell.

Harry ducked beneath it and followed its trail until it struck the ground, leaving a large hole in the dirt. He turned back to Malfoy, fire in his eyes. "Kotes!" he shouted, punching his wand forward in the air. A ball of white energy erupted from his wand and crashed into Malfoy's shield.

The Protego spell failed and his opponent was sent flying backwards and landed hard on the ground. Harry assumed that the match was over, but then saw the boy stand again, one arm hanging limply at his side, and then he made a slashing movement in the air.

Harry's stomach dropped at the movement. It was the same Dark spell that had struck Hermione in the Ministry of Magic last June... the one that Dolohov had cast that he thought had killed Hermione. He saw the burning purple streak start just above his right shoulder, and did the only thing he could think of to try and stop it. He knew Protego only deadened the effects.

"Scutulatus contego!" The shimmering shield of clear and silver formed before him in an instant, and a resounding clang erupted through the night, silencing all the students that were watching the fierce duel. Harry was very glad that the spell had actually worked - he had never had a chance to try it before hand. Malfoy seemed awestruck at the power of his shield, and so Harry chose that time to act and finish the duel.

"Petrificus totalus!" Malfoy's arms and legs snapped together as the curse struck, and he fell backwards. "Stupefy!" Harry added for good measure. The red stunning curse struck the fallen boy, and it was only then that Harry took a deep breath and allowed himself to relax before the noise all around him erupted.

He must have toned out the noise, just as he must have been doing in his practices with Kailyn. He then realised with a grin that he had been staring at Malfoy's collarbone during the entire duel. His grin only broadened as he realised that there was a strong possibility that he had broken it with the powerful bludgeoning attack he had used.

Professor McGonagall finally made it through the crowd and started shouting at the students to return to the school. She stopped Harry and Hermione before they could join their classmates. Once everyone else was gone and Malfoy had been taken up to the hospital wing, she looked back to them. "I see my instincts were accurate," she said slowly. "You did not provoke him, did you Mr. Potter?"

"I..." Harry started with a brief glance to Hermione. He could see that she had already turned red from the thought at what had apparently started the duel. "I kissed Hermione," he admitted. "And Malfoy decided kissing a... well, you know the term he used, I'm sure, was enough cause to duel."

"Ah," McGonagall said with a nod. "Very well then. Twenty points to Gryffindor for some fine dueling and handling pressure, Mr. Potter. I suggest the two of you make your way back to the common room before you are bombarded with other students wanting to talk about your duel." She then looked to Hermione. "And that is nothing to be ashamed of, young lady, so wipe that blush right off your face. It's only natural when the time is right, after all."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said. "For the chance to duel him, and for asking me to lead the Gryffindors. It was much better than I thought it would be."

"You looked the part, too," McGonagall said with a soft smile. "Both of you. Nice necklace, Hermione," she added as she turned to return to the castle ahead of the two sixth year students.

-----------------------

I'll be watching from within **The Shadows**


	18. Birthday Party and Last Day of Class

Chapter Eighteen: A Birthday and the Last Day of Class 

It was only with the greatest of reluctance that Harry actually went to bed the night of the Ball. He and Hermione had been cuddled up in a chair by the fire after the duel had ended, and had only separated when they heard the sound of others approaching. Deciding together that it would be best not to rub that fact into a possibly awake Ginny and Ron's faces, they went up to their respective dorms.

The next morning, Neville handed Harry a note from his seat by the fire - the same seat that he and Hermione had shared last night, he noticed. Hermione had gone to speak with Professor McGonagall about something, but didn't say what. With a sigh, he shook his head, ran his hand through his hair, and then turned to leave the common room. Ron was still fast asleep upstairs, and he could only pray that Ginny was in her dorm as well as he stepped out of the portrait hole.

"Harry!" He stopped just at the entrance of the Great Hall and turned to the sound of his name being called. He saw Julia running down the corridor towards him, flagging him down. "Harry, thank goodness I caught you before you went in there..."

"Why?" he asked, peering around the double doors at the other students enjoying their Sunday morning breakfast. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing in there," she said, shaking her head. "Sorry, it didn't come out quite as I meant it to. No, I wanted to talk to you before you went in, that's all. I just came from the hospital wing."

Harry furrowed his brow. "What's wrong? Who's hurt?"

Julia smiled and shook her head at his concern. "No one worth caring about, anyway. Malfoy's there, but he's certainly not alone." At Harry's confusion, she went on. "Well, when Neville noticed you and Hermione slip outside, he alerted a few of the 'members,' as Terry put it, and we all went to block the doors to keep the Slytherins inside. Malfoy had already slipped through, but we put about six or seven others in the hospital wing before Dumbledore put a stop to the whole dueling inside."

"Six or seven?"

"Truth be told, I felt a little useless," Julia admitted, shaking her head. "But you should have seen Neville, Lavender, Terry, and Susan fight! It was amazing! Terry struck one of them in the gut with some sort of blue ball of energy, and then chaos broke lose. Ernie Macmillan even came up from behind the group and stunned two other Slytherins - they didn't make it to the hospital wing, they were just Enervated."

Harry could practically feel his heart swell as he heard of the exploits of the DA members on his behalf. He would have to have a talk with each of them privately at the next meeting. "I take it you still want in?"

Julia broke out into a wide grin. "Of course I do. After seeing that! Oh, the others are still up by the hospital wing, listening in to see if they are trying to plot any sort of revenge, by the way. When Terry suggested someone go tell you what happened, I volunteered, as I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"The others?"

"Ravenclaw members. Well, except Cho. She wouldn't get out of bed this morning... I think she did something last night that she'd rather not face anyone about." Harry could only imagine who she had cried to last night, and shuddered at the mere thought. "So, can I join?"

Harry dug into one of the pockets of his robes and pulled out a gold galleon. He flipped it over and found the date he was looking for, and held it for a moment, concentrating. When nothing happened, he held it out to her. "Don't spend this. You'll need it to tell when the next meeting is."

She took the coin and looked it over carefully. "The Protean charm?" she whistled. "That takes a bit of skill. I assume the numbers along the casting information is actually date and time?"

"You're well placed in your house, and you weren't kidding about your charms, were you?" Harry asked with a bit of a chuckle. "It was Hermione's idea, incidentally."

There was a bit of a silence between them before she looked away from the coin and back to Harry. "Where is it?"

"You know that painting of Barnabas the Barmy and the trolls?""

"That codswallop of a wizard who wanted to teach them ballet?"

"That's the one," Harry admitted. "When you feel the coin change, check the date, and meet there at the right time. The rest will be obvious then. Hermione will check you in once you arrive."

"Check me in?"

"First time thing. Basically, an oath not to tell others about the club, just in case. This is a secret thing, by the way. That's why Terry couldn't tell you much about it."

"She's not using the Fidealus Charm for this, is she?" Julia asked, her blue eyes widening in surprise. "That's a nearly impossible charm to do at NEWT level, and she's only in sixth year, right?"

"No, she's not," Harry said with a shake of his head. "I don't know the details, but she said it would work better than last year's plan, and let me tell you, that one was a whopper."

"You really care about her, don't you?" When Harry simply nodded, she smiled. "She's a very lucky witch, I hope she knows that."

"I think I'm the lucky wizard, actually," Harry countered.

"Where is she, anyway?"

"With McGonagall."

"That would be Professor McGonagall, would it not?" Both froze instantly at the voice, and turned towards the double doors. Standing next to one of the open doors, leaning against the metal frame, was the Wanderer.

"Do you live to follow me around here?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

The Wanderer seemed to be laughing to himself, but was making no noise before shaking his head. "No, Mr. Potter, I do not live to follow you around. Nor do I follow just you around. There are many students that I try to keep an eye on... students that I feel could be in danger, or just in need of a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen. You just seem to need more following than some."

"Thanks."

The elf took a step forward, and Julia took a step back despite herself. She wasn't in the advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and wasn't as comfortable around him as the select few students of that class were. "I did mention that elves are aware of sarcasm, did I not?" Talisien asked.

"You did," Harry admitted.

"Good. I thought I'd check. I was afraid I might had forgotten to mention it," he said deliberately before turning. "May I speak with you for a moment, Harry?"

Harry looked to Julia, who shrugged. "I'm good. I wanted to get back to Terry and the others anyway." She then gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek before turning away. "Sorry, I've always wanted to do that, but I know you are taken, don't worry. I believed what you were saying last year, by the way."

Harry turned to follow the green cloaked teacher, and found himself in the Defense classroom after a few minutes of walking in the silence. He found Kailyn sitting at one of the desks, looking a little upset.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting next to her and ignoring Talisien for a minute. If what the Professor wanted was important, he could wait. Kailyn had done a lot for Harry, though, and he couldn't ignore her.

"I... I didn't warn you properly," she sniffed. As she looked to him with her brown eyes, he could tell that she had been crying. Her long brown hair was a mess, too, and she looked very tired. "I should have, but I..."

"Warn me about what?" Harry asked in surprise.

"About going outside," she said sadly, holding her head in her hands as she leaned forward to break their eye contact. "I was supposed to tell you not to go outside, because only the Great Hall would be well protected."

When Harry looked up to Talisien, he found that the Wanderer was gone. He looked to the door just as it closed silently behind the elf before he looked back to the upset half-breed. "You did, though," he said quietly. "You told me during my lesson yesterday not to go outside. It was right before you told me to trust myself."

"I did?" she asked, looking up to him in almost amazement. "Really? You aren't just saying that, are you?"

"No," Harry countered. "I'm telling you that because you did say it. I just had to talk to Hermione away from everything else. I wanted to give her a necklace that I had made in Hogsmeade."

"You did?" Her eyes seemed to light up as Harry told her about it. "How did she take it? Does she understand the customs?"

"There isn't much that Hermione doesn't understand, and if she doesn't, she can always look it up," Harry said with a chuckle. "But I told her all about them, don't worry."

"You were watching Malfoy's collarbone the whole time, you know," Kailyn offered after a long silence. "I guess you really do pay attention when I'm teaching, don't you?"

"If I don't, I get the feeling that I might feel a bit of pain from one of your swords," Harry joked, poking her in the arm. She smiled back to him and wiped the remains of her tears from her eyes.

"Thanks. Granddad was upset that I hadn't told you, and I was too, because you could have been really hurt by that..." she trailed off and looked around the classroom carefully. "Git." At Harry's confused expression, she shrugged. "He doesn't like anyone insulting anybody for any reason, and it's not always obvious when he's around," she explained.

"Right."

"Nice striking spell too, by the way," she added as she flitted out of the room before Harry could say anything else. He found himself wishing that she had stayed an extra minute or two, because he wanted to ask her about that spell. He hadn't heard of it anywhere before, and wasn't even sure exactly what he had said, but she seemed to know something about it.

He'd have to ask during their next lesson.  
---------------------  
"So, everyone clear?"

"Not really," Cho piped up from the Charms corner. "Aren't we already in teams now? I mean, you did split us up in the beginning of the year, right?"

"Tactically," Ron said, looking pointedly at Cho and not at Harry. "It doesn't make any sense to stay in groups like this. If something were to happen to any group but the protection group, there wouldn't be anyone to heal injuries, for example." He shook his head and looked to Hermione briefly before looking back to Cho. "It's common sense."

Hermione forced herself not to respond to Ron's obvious dig at her decision when Harry had gone missing. It had been a little over two weeks since the Ball, and neither Ron nor Ginny had said so much as a word to either of them. Harry had helped Colin to the hospital ward when he found him covered with Bat Bogeys a couple of days afterwards, but that had been that.

"Right," Harry said after a moment. "Like I said, we're splitting up today, because I want everyone to get used to the idea of working with the groups that I've picked out next term, alright?"

"Will there be leaders in each group?" Dean asked.

"Which group are you in?" Susan asked at the same time.

Harry smiled. "There will be leaders, and I won't be with any group just yet. I'll still be trying to teach you what I can," he explained. When there were no more questions, he pulled out his wand and muttered a few words under his breath. Five strips of colour appeared on the ground - green, red, black, blue, and white. "Anyone have a colour preference?"

"That's not Slytherin green, is it?" Justin asked, poking at the strip of green with a toe as though it were the deadliest of poisons. "Cause I don't want anything to do with it if it is."

"That's a dark green," Hermione pointed out. "Slytherin is much brighter."

Harry cleared his throat and they all looked to him. "Right, well, Hermione, Denis, Anthony, and Julia are in the white group," he explained. Once they were in position, he pointed to the blue line. "Lavender, Neville, Susan, and Cho are in the blue one." Moving on as he went, he kept calling out names. "Dean, Pavarti, Luna, and Padma in the black group. Hannah, Justin, Ron, and Terry in red. Kailyn, Ginny, Ernie, and Colin in green."

"Given that the order was all heal, curse, counter, and charm, should we be given to believe we all get to pick our leaders?" Julia asked, looking over to him after checking her group out carefully. She had wanted to be with Terry, but being in the same group made that impossible. She also noticed Ron and Luna looking to each other in much the same light.

"That was my thought," Harry admitted. "Provided I can count on everyone here to be mature about it."

"We won't hide anything from you," Ginny quipped back, not looking to him. She was a little put out that Colin was in her group, but was pleased about Kailyn. She hadn't really had much chance to talk to the half elf before.

"Ginny..." Harry sighed, shaking his head as everyone started talking amongst themselves.

"Hermione's our leader," Julia offered to Harry, who nodded and smiled to Hermione. Her brown eyes showed of her pleasure at being picked, and he could practically see her trying to contain her excitement.

"I'll be the leader here," Neville offered before the rest could make any suggestions.

"And why would we follow you, Longbottom?" Cho demanded. "I mean, I'm ahead of you all by a year, shouldn't that say something?"

Although he knew better than to get involved, Harry couldn't help himself this time. "Neville's it," he said. When Cho looked to him in surprise, he kept going. "He was a big help last year, and of your group, he has the most experience."

"Thanks, Harry," Neville said quietly, returning the nod that Harry had just sent his way. Even in the DA, no one had really spoken about the trip to the Ministry of Magic. Everyone who had gone were gauging things by Harry, and since he hadn't said anything, neither had they.

"I'd like to suggest Dean," Luna said, looking straight at Harry with her large blue eyes. He looked to her for a moment, and she smiled sadly to him and shrugged in Ron's direction. He sighed and nodded, understanding what she was trying to say. She was working on Ron, but he could be stubborn.

"I'll do it," Dean said after looking to both Patil twins.

Hannah, Justin, and Terry all looked to Ron, who nodded but didn't say anything to Harry. Terry, who had spoken to Harry on more than one occasion since the Ball and knew some of what was going on, looked up when Harry looked to their group. "Ron'll lead us."

Harry didn't reply, but simply nodded to them, looking to the last group then - the green group. They were talking amongst themselves, and he was pleased to see that Ginny was no longer trying to curse Colin every time she saw him. "I'll lead," Ginny offered, turning to look squarely at Harry. "So long as you promise - " She stopped as she stumbled forward, and looked back to Kailyn angrily.

"Sorry, Ginny, I thought I saw something on the ground, and tripped," she explained with a shrug. As soon as Ginny turned away again, she winked at Harry, who could only smile. He would have to thank the first year later.

Harry looked at the groups and couldn't help but feel a bit proud. They looked ready, even though he hated to admit that he seemed to be preparing them for a war. The DA wasn't meant to be like this... it was just meant to be real practice for Defense Against the Dark Arts, not solider training.

He turned away from them and leaned against the desk at the front of the room heavily. The realisation had just struck him hard. "Is everyone here comfortable with what's going on?" he asked in a quiet voice. "With what we're doing?"

The room went deadly still at his words, and he turned around slowly to see everyone - including Ron and Ginny - looking to him. "What do you think we're doing here?" Justin asked him.

Harry sighed and focused beyond the group at the foeglass in the back of the room. The figures were still murky, and he was quite pleased at that. "I just thought that it seems like I'm not teaching extra work for our Defense Against the Dark Arts class, but training you like warriors of some kind for some foolish war."

Again, silence met his words, and he broke his gaze with the mirror to look to everyone. Neville was the first to move, and he stepped forward, standing just a few feet away from Harry. "We're fighting a war, Harry, and it's not foolish. We're a part of that war whether we want it or not. I, for one, do not intend to stand back and do nothing. Not after my parents..." he trailed off, staring right into Harry's eyes. He said nothing else, but stood up a little straighter.

"Neville's right, Harry," Terry said, stepping forward as well. "And while most of us don't know what we're up against, at least, not like you do, we need to be ready. I don't intend to go down without a fight. You happen to be the only hope that I can see to prevent that."

Harry wasn't sure what to say to all that. He certainly hadn't expected the members to agree with his thoughts. He had half hoped that they didn't feel like he was training them for war, but it seemed obvious that they did feel that way, and they weren't complaining.

His thoughts all stopped as Ron came forward. "I may not be very happy with you right now, mate, but there's no ruddy way in hell that I'm gonna sit here and let you take off to fight..." he trailed off looking grim, and then closed his eyes. "I'm not letting you fight Voldemort alone." When he fell silent, he opened his eyes again and looked straight to Harry once more, as though daring him to defy his statement.

"You might not want to lead an army of students, Harry, but we're going to follow you anyway," Luna said, not stepping forward, but looking to everyone else. "Because no one deserves to face their fears alone."

Harry snorted despite himself and looked away from the mass of support. "So you're saying I should change the name of this group to the PA... the Potter Army?"

"No," Luna said quickly. "I'm suggesting that we simply call this group what it was before. The Defense Association. When the time comes, we aren't following Dumbledore, or Fudge, or anyone else. We're following you, Harry. We are going to defend our world with you."

"We all believe in you," Hermione offered with tears in her eyes. "And I, for one, always will."

"Do you believe in yourself?" Kailyn asked.

Harry smiled despite himself and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I don't think I have much choice in the matter, do you?" He then looked at the clock on the wall. "Looks like that's time. See you in the New Year. And... thanks... to everyone. For everything..."

"We should be the ones thanking you, Harry," Dean said, clapping him on the shoulder as he left the room. Many of the others did likewise as they passed by him. He noticed that both Ron and Ginny refrained from actually touching him, but they did nod as they passed, until it was just him and Hermione left in the Room of Requirement.

"Do you believe in me?" Hermione asked as soon as they were left alone in the room.

Harry couldn't help but smile at that. "Of course I do," he promised her. "I believe in you without any doubt. I know that you'll always be able to do anything you put your mind to."

"Well, then you should believe in yourself, too." When he raised an eyebrow to suggest she keep talking, she smiled. "Because I believe in you, just like I said."

"You'll be a good leader, you know?" he said with a grin. "Because you really know how to raise spirits when a guy's feeling down."

"Really?" she asked, moving closer to him and wrapping her around around his neck, staring into his eyes. "I somehow don't think I could do it like this, now could I?" she asked in a whisper as she leaned in to give him a kiss.

He closed his eyes as he felt her soft lips press against his gently and he put his own arms around her, pulling her a little closer. Without warning, her lips parted just a little bit and he could feel her tongue dancing across his lips before withdrawing again as she pulled back to look into his eyes once more. The combined action made him shiver just a little, and he loved it.

Although his heart was probably beating faster than it ever had before, he still couldn't help but smile to her, getting lost in the warmth of her brown eyes. The rest of the room didn't matter, not with her in it, anyway.

"Promise me something?" he asked quietly. When she nodded, he went on. "Don't lift anyone's spirits but mine this way..." She replied to that by kissing him again with a little more pressure than before. When she pulled away again, she stood up on her toes and planted a kiss just below the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"Only yours," she whispered. When they pulled apart after a few more minutes of looking into each other's eyes, Harry clasped her hand in his own, entwining their fingers together as they left the Room of Requirement to return to the Gryffindor common rooms.  
----------------------  
Over the next two days, Harry thought that Ron seemed to be trying to get up the nerve to tell him something, but every time he started, a look would pass over his eyes and he would turn around again and leave. He hated being at odds with Ron - it always seemed to make life so much more difficult.

Being at odds with Ron was almost nothing compared to being at odds with Ginny, however. More of Fred and George seemed to have rubbed off on her than Harry had realised, and given that the end of term was fast approaching, it made for practical jokes to be taken a lot less seriously by Professors. He was constantly looking over his shoulder, and managed twice to keep Hermione from being caught, and three times for himself. He found himself thinking that he prefered it when she had been completely ignoring them, rather than this.

It was for that reason that the last day of classes came as something of a relief to him. The twentieth of December, the last day of fall, and the final day of classes. It meant a lot this year, too, as over the holidays, he knew what was waiting for him. He was looking forward to the Animagus training, even though he knew it would not be an easy task.

What he wasn't looking forward to quite as much was meeting Hermione's parents. She had received a reply to her owl the day beforehand saying that they were moving into Grimmauld Place today, so they would be settled in before Harry and Hermione even arrived. He knew they were good people -he had met them once before in Diagon Alley - but then he hadn't been dating their daughter. Hermione assured him that it wouldn't be a problem, and he tried to believe her.

With all that on his mind, as well as the large question of why their last Defense Against the Dark Arts class had been cancelled for the term, Harry was rather unaware as to the happenings in the Gryffindor common room. He knew many of the students were celebrating the last day, but he was simply lost in thought.

"Kailyn's not around either, Harry," Hermione said softly from beside him as she sat down next to him. "I spoke to a few other first years, and they told me that she wasn't in any of her classes this morning, and no one saw her at breakfast or at lunch. Apparently their professors already knew, though."

"Think they went home early?"

"Kailyn said that they were staying here over the holidays, so that wouldn't make much sense," Hermione countered. "But why so worried?"

"I was hoping to get one last lesson before going home, that's all."

"Lesson? You wanted an extra lesson?" Hermione asked in surprise. She seemed oddly pleased with his remark, and he smiled at her reaction.

"Yeah. From her," he added, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She jerked upright at that. Obviously she had thought he meant their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"What has Kailyn been teaching you?" Hermione asked quietly. He could detect a light hint of anger at being kept in the dark, and he knew right away that he had to handle it carefully. He was glad he could read Hermione as well as she could read him.

"She's been teaching me how to use this," he said, tapping the dagger at his side. "She carries two swords with her everywhere, did you know that?"

"How long has that been going on?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "Talisien set it up after you gave this to me," he explained. "He said it would do me a lot of good to be able to get some things off my mind. Being attacked with a sharp weapon tends to do that nicely."

"It's helping?" Hermione asked in surprise. "You find it relaxing?"

"Yeah, surprisingly enough," he admitted. "Helped with the duel with Malfoy, too. I could predict his moves a lot faster, and was lighter on my feet."

Hermione sat back a bit, biting her lower lip as she thought something through carefully. Harry just watched her for a moment and sighed to himself. He still couldn't really believe his fortunate that she was willing to stick with him, despite the risks involved. She truly was a remarkable witch.

"Could I watch sometime?" she asked after a while of silence, during which time someone had eaten one of the Weasley's concoctions that made then walk on the ceiling for a short time before crashing to the ground again.

"I guess. Why?"

"Well, if it's helping, then I'd like to see it," she insisted. "Maybe..."

"You'd like to learn, too?" Harry needled her. She turned red at his suggestion and at how easily he had caught her. "You don't have a blade," he pointed out.

"But I could still watch."

Ignoring the laughter that was going on around them, Harry leaned in a little closer and kissed Hermione gently on the cheek. "I think I'm going to try and find her to ask, alright?" he suggested. When he looked into her eyes, he saw that she wasn't looking at him anymore, but at something over his shoulder. He turned quickly and saw both Ron and Ginny looking over to them, pointing and talking among themselves. "Will you be alright here?"

She nodded. "Hurry back though, okay?" She then sighed as she leaned back into her red armchair by the fire. "I hate fighting with them, you know?" When she saw the look on Harry's face, she sat up again quickly. "Oh no you don't, Mr. Potter. Don't you dare go thinking anything like that!"

"Like what?" Harry asked innocently, though knowing that she knew anyway.

"Don't you dare go thinking that I would be better off without you, understand? It was my decision, and I won't have you go blaming yourself for everything, got it?"

Harry smiled and kissed her on the nose. "See, that's why I care so much about you. You do everything you can to make me happy, even when I'm downright terrible to you sometimes."

"You're never terrible to me," she replied instantly. The two looked into each others' eyes for a moment before Harry stood up to leave. "Try the classroom first, or Talisien's office. Actually, I think the office is closest."

"I'll try there first, then." Harry stood up and went to the portrait hole quickly, ignoring the cries from several of the other Gryffindors for him to join in one of their games or conversations. He shot a glance back to the two Weasleys, and saw that Ginny was crying and Ron was trying to comfort her. He wished he knew what was going on, but he knew that they wouldn't tell him right then anyway. With one last sigh, he left.

He slowed down as he approached the door to the elf's office. There was light shining from beneath it, and he could hear several voices talking animatedly inside. There was a great deal of laughter every now and then, followed by more talking. Either the words were getting terribly muffled by the door, or they weren't speaking in any language that Harry could recognize... mind you, that wasn't saying much, as he could only speak English. After a moment, he determined it was more a combination of both his thoughts.

"Dan pasid spera sa sot, tebrec. A nen fipjaur rish ap fan que edinew a birgon kah. Tron reteude dan tekahug we olisantora regoruno ivera elator seton." This voice sounded somewhat like Talisien's, but with the strange language and muffled door, if made it impossible to tell for certain.

"Peo iha le it vekod, Wanderer. Sustad qodey fibute recunip i lane taux ril tolitali... dan wecoewe plin ka dowiet jiog, as ka wey." Whoever said this had a soft voice, and one that he certainly did not know at all.

"Dan i yeers ato Dark Lord, sokel Vermarth? Dan yip wekic remurk-ona hur peoljaur, sokel? Peo dowiet sa murk-ona." This one, he knew was Kailyn. Her voice always seemed somehow full of life, regardless of what was going on around her.

"Peo iha sokel, Verdurne. Tris que ence verisi eod-cout dan left tho thixer tea gortendas wi Voldemort," the first voice replied. Before Harry could respond to the sudden movement and sound from within the office, the door was pulled open and he found himself inside.

As he looked around, he saw Talisien sitting next to Fey by the fireplace, smiles on their faces as they looked to him, and Kailyn still had the door opened, looking at him in surprise. There was another woman in the room as well, a woman with striking white hair that reached all the way to the ground. She wasn't sitting either, but standing in the corner, watching him carefully. She was leaning on a staff, and actually seemed to be floating when he looked a bit closer to her. Something about her presence seemed strange to Harry... something he remembered from not that long ago...

"Good of you to join us, Harry," Talisien said with a smile when Kailyn still hadn't recovered. "We were just talking about you."

"You were?" Harry asked in surprise. "I'm sorry, I wasn't meaning to interrupt or anything, but..."

"You didn't interrupt," Fey countered calmly, motioning to one of the other chairs in the room. Kailyn beat him to the one she must have been in beforehand, and so he was left to sit closest to the door itself. "Talisien was just telling about his year here so far, and mentioned something about you reminding himself of his past, that's all."

Harry nodded slowly, taking in the information without really paying attention to it before looking to Talisien again. "Why did you cancel class today? And why weren't you," he said, looking to Kailyn pointedly. "In any of your classes either?"

"It is the Wanderer's birthday, Harry Potter," the woman in the corner said in her soft voice. "He has gathered with his family every year for nearly fifteen hundred years on this day, and school was not going to interrupt that tradition." As she spoke, he realised that she had been hiding in the corner during the Ball, and that was where he recognized her presence from.

"Fifteen hundred..." Harry said, trailing off as he tried to even imagine such a long life. "How old are you?" he asked, turning back to his teacher and looking at him in an entirely new light.

"Old enough," he said with a shrug. "Elves live extremely long lives by any creatures' standards... any save Ali's, anyway," he added with a grin, motioning to the woman in the corner. "She's a good several thousand years older than me!"

"You certainly don't look that old," Harry thought out loud, and ducked his head at once, wishing he had held his tongue. To his surprise, Talisien just laughed.

"No, elves don't really age beyond a certain point," he explained. "But what brings you to my office today?" he asked, sitting forward. "Something on your mind?"

Harry's left hand subconsciously found the hilt to his dagger at Talisien's choice of words, and he saw the two elder elves smile at the action. "I can't really remember why I came, actually," Harry admitted. He knew he had been talking to Hermione about something, but after hearing the strange conversation, his thoughts had been thrown out the window. "It was important, but..."

"You heard us talking and didn't understand a word of it," Kailyn supplied with a grin, finally regaining her composure. "You wouldn't," she added quickly. "It's not a language that any human alive knows, really. Ancient tongue."

"I guess I am interrupting," Harry said, standing slowly to leave. "I..."

"Sit down, Harry," Talisien said calmly. "I said before that my door is always open, and I meant it. Now, since you don't remember why you came here, might there be anything else on your mind now that you want to talk about?"

"Well," Harry said slowly. "I guess I am a little curious about this language and all, but that would be about it." As he released the dagger, the thought returned to him suddenly. "Actually, I wanted to ask Kailyn if she would mind if Hermione watched our lessons together in the future..." he said, looking to the first year as he spoke.

Kailyn shrugged. "So long as she stays out of the way, I don't mind. You probably can't really explain to her just what's going on anyway, given how her mind soaks up information." Harry grinned at that - it was a comment that he would have to remember in the future.

"Peo terni jiruw reaps," Talisien said softly. Harry looked over to him and saw that he was looking to Fey. The elf then looked back to him, and smiled. "I suppose a few terms wouldn't hurt. I just told her that she means the world to me."

"Peo turni jiruw reap?" Harry repeated.

"No, peo terni jiruw reaps," Talisien said again. Harry repeated the phrase, and got a nod from his teacher. "Right. Simple enough. Anything else you want to be able to say?"

Harry thought about it for a moment before sitting forward. There was a lot he wanted to be able to say without anyone else understanding, but he knew he couldn't ask for the whole language - he'd never remember it all. "How about 'Do not hurt her?'"

Talisien smiled and nodded. "Alright. Lewer jilark kao." Harry repeated it twice before getting it right, and then Talisien nodded again. "Good. One more word that you may find useful in school... the other teachers wouldn't be able to punish you for it."

"A swear?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Same thing I said when my first spell failed to shield you from that mind attack," the elf said with a nod. "Tusonit. Or, if you prefer the full phrase for maximum effect, tusonit urea koces regaos!"

"What does it mean in English?" Harry asked after repeating it four times before getting it properly.

"It doesn't really translate well," Fey said kindly. "Besides, if it were translated, I doubt you would understand just why the full form is a curse for the most wretched of anger - I do not believe any human histories even mention that terrible era any longer."

Harry nodded and then noticed the clock above the fireplace. It said that it was almost six o'clock - he had been gone for almost two hours. The comfortable office and interesting topics of conversation had made the time fly by, but he had promised Hermione that he wouldn't take too long.

"Look, I've taken enough of your time," Harry said, standing quickly. "Thanks. And happy birthday, Professor Talisien."

"Thank you, Harry," Talisien said with a nod. "May you have many more yourself."

As he rushed back to the common rooms, he wasn't entirely sure why he passed by the Great Hall - it was on the other side of the castle from the office and Gryffindor Tower, after all. Then again, the castle had been known to shift students around every now and then for its only personal amusement.

He peeked inside and found most of the students gathered for the end of term feast already. Scanning the Gryffindor table, he found that Hermione was not there yet, and he felt even worse. She was missing the feast as she waited for him to return.

He actually ignored the cries of the caretaker Mr. Flitch as he ran down the halls and up the stairs to the tower again. He arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady almost completely out of breath, said the password, and slipped inside quickly.

Hermione was sitting by the fire looking rather upset, staring at him. Before he could say two words, she stood up and stalked over to him. "You had better have a good explanation, Harry," she said softly. "Because you told me that you would be back soon, remember?"

He gulped and looked away from her accusing eyes. "I'm sorry, 'Mione," he whispered. "I found them and we started talking, and..."

"So you did find them, then?" Hermione asked, looking a little relieved, though still angry. "I was half convinced that you had run into Malfoy with a whole gang of Slytherins, or had been cornered by some girl and couldn't escape - I know how terrible you are at rejecting people, Harry."

"I would reject any girl who tried to get close to me except you, 'Mione," Harry said instantly. "I promise you that. In fact, I swear it upon my honour as a wizard." He felt an odd popping sensation as soon as his words left his mouth, and he saw Hermione looking at him in surprise. "What?" he asked with a frown. "What did I do now?"

"Harry... you just gave a wizard's oath to always stick by me," Hermione said softly, the anger seeming to dissipate as she spoke. "Do you realise that?"

Harry nodded and lifted up his wrist. "Didn't I say that before, though, when I put this on? I promised you then that..."

"I know that, Harry," Hermione cut him off quickly. "But that wasn't an oath like the one you just made! Harry, what if we don't work out?" she asked. Harry noticed then the fear in her voice. "If we don't, and you ever looked at another girl, then you'd become a squib faster than you could say Quidditch!"

When he had asked Remus and the Weasley twins to make a wizard's oath to take care of Hermione in case anything happened to him, he hadn't been entirely sure why they were so hesitant, but that seemed to explain it. He was glad they had agreed in the end, but also a little surprised, knowing just what failure could mean to them.

Harry closed his eyes slowly and took a deep breath before opening them and looking straight into Hermione's eyes again. "Peo terni jiruw reaps, 'Mione," he said firmly. At her questioning look, he smiled. "Trust me, you'd like what it means. I'll tell you sometime, if you want... or you could try to find out on your own. It is in the Ancient language."

"The Ancient language?" Hermione repeated. "You mean _the_ Ancient language, the first language to ever be spoken, the language that no one can speak?"

Harry shrugged. "You've got me. It's what they said it was, though. Talisien taught me a bit. Not much, but enough to say that and give a rather interesting, lengthy curse, too."

Hermione rolled her eyes at that, but looked excited suddenly. "You took extra time to learn some of that language?" she asked. When Harry nodded, she threw her arms around him. "I guess I'm starting to rub off on you a little, huh?"

"You say that as thought I haven't rubbed off on you at all," Harry replied with a grin, placing his hands on her hips gently and pulling her a little closer. "It seems to me that once upon a time a certain girl with bushy brown hair was more worried about being expelled for breaking school rules than being killed, remember?"

Hermione giggled at the reminder of her first year, and then looked to him seriously. "Do you think Talisien would be willing to teach any of it to me?"

"Are you adverse to sneaking to the kitchens later to get something to eat?" Harry asked in response, looking into her eyes and trying his best not to get lost as he waited for her answer. When she shook her head, he smiled. "Great. Then let's go speak with him, and you can ask him yourself." Rather than the elated expression he had half been expecting, he found himself watching Hermione biting her lower lip gently again. "What's wrong?" he asked softly.

She smiled to him and leaned a little closer. "I'm trying to decide if I want to go right now or if I want to kiss you first," she whispered, her breath playing across his lips. Ever since the Ball when she had told him that he really wasn't violating her space, they had been kissing quite a bit more, and he certainly had no complaints about that.

Harry didn't reply to her, but captured her lips with his own gently, sliding his hands from her hips to press her inwards by her lower back. After the barest of moments, she pulled away just a bit, his upper lip caught between her teeth as she gently pulled. Before he could respond, she was kissing him again. He felt her tongue against his lips once more, and he felt the same jolt of energy run through him as he started to open his mouth to accept her inquiry.

Just as he started, though, she pulled away and looked into his eyes. "I don't think I need anyone to translate the meaning behind your words, Harry," she whispered, leaning her head into his shoulder as he held her close. "I think I understand the meaning behind them just fine."

"But you'd like to learn more?" he asked with a grin as she pulled away. He chuckled at the guilty expression on her face and held out an arm to her. "Well then, my lady, shall we be off?" Laughing, she accepted his arm and the two went out the portrait hole together.

The lights seemed to be off when they arrived at their Professor's office, and all sound had ceased from within. "Oh, they're probably at the feast," Harry said, remembering all the people that he had seen when he passed the Great Hall earlier.

"They are within the forest at this time, son of James and Lily." Both students whirled around in an instant, wands drawn, to find the woman that had been in the corner earlier floating an inch above the ground just behind them. "But you are still welcome to speak with me, if you wish."

"Who are you, anyway?" Harry asked pointedly. "Talisien called you Ali, I think."

The woman nodded, and looked to Hermione. "You wanted to learn some of the Ancient language, I believe, daughter of Mike and Jane."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a quick glance, and Harry nodded discretely and they lowered their wands. "How do you know so much about us?" Harry asked. "And just how did you know what 'Mione was here to ask about?"

"It is in my blood to know things, Harry," she said softly, her crimson eyes staring directly at him. He had the feeling that those eyes could penetrate a dementor's gaze, and broke contact to look to Hermione instead, but she, too, was looking at the woman. "I am one who cares only for the planet, but not those within it."

"What?" Harry asked in surprise.

"You don't care about anyone's life but your own?" Hermione asked at the same time.

The woman shook her head. "I did not say I cared about my own life. I simply said that I care for the planet. If my life is laid down to protect her, then so be it. If I succeed, then it would be a worthy sacrifice."

"You are not making a lot of sense, you know," Harry said, closing his eyes to try and remain calm. Her unearthly demeanour reminded him very strongly of a mix between Dumbledore and Trelawny, a combination he had no desire to think about.

"Ancients rarely make sense to most people."

"I still think you should care about people, too," Hermione muttered.

"I did, once," she admitted. "I still care about Talisien and Fey... they are all that remains of my family, though they are not a part of it by blood. I stopped caring about others and focused on the planet a long time ago, Hermione."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

The crimson eyes seemed to lose their focus for a moment before looking to Hermione. "I gave my heart to another. She died with it." She continued to look at the girl for a moment before smiling slightly. "Your drive reminds me of hers, actually."

"It is never so much a goodbye, as a simple farewell. It is not as though you will never see each other again," Harry said after a long silence. This earned him a smile from the strange woman.

"My words, a long time ago," she said. "You were given quite a gift with that weapon at your side, Harry," she added. "The Oakrium does not chose lightly, and has been with the same master for almost his entire life. Do not ever belittle it's strengths. None know of its full protective powers."

By now, both Harry and Hermione were completely confused with just what the woman called Ali was trying to say to them, or why she was even there talking to them at all. Harry, in fact, called her on that point.

"A simple reason, Harry," she said as she turned. "I was performing a favour for the Wanderer, and happened to be close by. You have much to learn... both of you." As she started walking further away, strange aquamarine lights started to dance around her. "Fortunately, he has much to teach." Before either could reply, the lights flared, and she was gone.

They both knew without speaking to each other that what had just happened made very little sense to them at all, and decided without words not to talk about what she had said. With a quick glance, they also decided not to tell anyone that she had just vanished into thin air - despite the fact that it was quite impossible to apparate in or out of Hogwarts, it seemed like the woman had done just that.

After everything that they had just gone through, they were both glad that tomorrow would find them away from Hogwarts and within the walls of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

----------------------

Now, I thought strongly about not providing a translation for the Ancient text, but decided that I might as well. Just in case anyone cares.

"This year has been interesting, though. I find myself reminded of my own youth more and more as I spend time within these walls. I hate to think that there is nothing I can do to help another lost soul," Talisien said.

"You are doing all you can, Wanderer. Teaching the boy magics and giving him a code to live and learn by... there is nothing more he would ask for, if he knew," Ali told him.

"There is a prophecy about this Dark Lord, isn't there, granddad? That's why you haven't gone to kill him yourself, right? You'd be killed!" Kailyn exclaimed in surprise.

"You are most likely correct. Only the young man standing outside this door can bring about Voldemort's downfall," Talisien pointed out.  
-----------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world, **The Shadows** will endure.


	19. Worst Nightmare, Best Dream

Chapter Nineteen: The Worst Nightmare and Best Dream

By the time Harry and Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place on the 21st of December, night was fast approaching. They had needed a large guard to bring them home, according to Dumbledore's orders, and they had had to wait for everyone else who was leaving Hogwarts for the holidays to go first.

As it was, Harry was feeling so thoroughly exhausted that he really didn't think he could face anyone right then, back in the house that his godfather had given him. One look to Hermione told her what he was feeling, and she motioned to the stairs before anyone could say anything to him. He smiled to her and climbed upstairs to his room.

He didn't even look at anything in his room before falling across the bed to allow sleep to take him.

----------------------

It was very dark when Harry opened his eyes again, and he realised with a start that he was no longer lying in his bed. He was breathing very heavily, and crouching in a small alcove in a very dark corridor. He sensed Hermione leaning close to him in a similar position, and looked across to find Neville, Lavender, Susan and Julia crouching there.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw the thick brown hair of Terry hiding behind a decrypted statue of a rather ugly wizard, and he was sure there were others behind him. When a flash of lightning filled the sky, everyone started to move as fast and quietly as possible forward, catching him unaware.

Everyone had their wands drawn, and no one was saying anything. He heard a shout behind them and turned quickly. Ginny and Colin were holding off three men in black robes with their faces covered - Death Eaters. When he made to go help them, Hermione caught his arm and pulled him forward.

"They'll be fine. We have to find Ron and Luna, remember?" Even as she spoke, several other of the DA members broke off to go help the two fighters, and Harry and Hermione darted down another corridor, leaving Julia and Terry to go in the opposite direction.

He heard Hermione growl softly to him and he turned to her and purred in response. He wasn't entirely sure what she had said, but he got the impression that she had understood him completely, which was more than a little confusing.

Taking up a position on either side of the only door that they came across, Harry pointed his wand at the doorknob and whispered the unlocking charm. When it clicked and swung open, they looked inside cautiously.

"Ron!" he shouted in surprise when he found his best friend tied up in one corner of the room, badly beaten. He was still conscious, and looked up in surprise at the sound of Harry's voice. Looking around the room for traps, he saw Luna a short distance away on the floor. He knelt next to her quickly and checked for a pulse. It was there, but it was weak.

"We've got to get them out of here," Hermione whispered to him. "Send the signal to the others and we'll try to regroup." Harry nodded and pulled out the galleon from the pocket of the green cloak he hadn't even been aware that he was wearing.

He hefted Ron to his feet and threw an arm around him while Hermione held her wand over Luna, trying to repair some of the damage that had been inflicted upon the girl so they could escape without endangering her further. After a white flash, Hermione pulled her up and the four started out of the room carefully.

A group of eight DA members met them at the end of the hall. Neville and Ginny were at the back, watching the entrance to the corridor, while the others were rushing forward to relieve the two of their burdens.

"What now, Harry?" Terry whispered. "Any idea how to get out of here?"

"We've got to get outside first," Harry decided, not entirely sure where 'here' was just yet. "From there, we can try to alert the Order and get as far away as possible before they realise that we've got Ron and Luna."

There were nods all around, and then a flash of light blinded Harry. When his vision returned, he found himself standing outside in a very wet field, rain pouring down all around him. Hermione was standing next to him, and he had his wand in one hand, his dagger in the other.

None of that made any sense to him, but he looked around quickly, trying to orient himself. The bodies of several Death Eaters were lying nearby, and he started when he saw two members of the DA - Cho and Dean - lying there as well. He was pleased to notice that one of the fallen Death Eaters had a silver hand. There was no sign of anyone else, but he felt an ominous presence in front of him.

Looking back quickly, he saw the red slits of light that were Voldemort's eyes, and then the dark wizard himself appeared, flanked by two Death Eaters. "So it comes to this, Potter," the Dark Lord said in his high, cold voice. "Just you and a mudblood against me and my most loyal followers."

Despite the fear that was building in the pit of his stomach, he took a step forward, lifting his wand. "No one calls 'Mione a mudblood and gets away with it!" Bringing his dagger up as though to support his magics, he continued in a lower, more threatening voice. "Lever jilark kao!"

"Oh, ikle Potter's found a girlfriend!" the unmistakable insulting voice of Bellatrix Lestrange said from one side of the Dark Lord. "Can I, my lord?"

"I believe Lucius has more of a say to her than you do, Bella," Voldemort said coldly.

The wizard to his left stepped forward and raised his wand. "You will fall here today, Potter. Your mudblood will fall first!"

A spell of blackness shot from his wand suddenly, and he turned in fear, but found Hermione had put up the see through mirror shield. The spell struck it hard, and the Death eater looked surprised by the power. "Kotes!" she cried as she lowered her shield. A blast of white energy lashed out and hit the elder Malfoy in the chest, sending him flying backwards to land hard on the ground. Hermione took a step forward so she was right next to Harry, and he noticed right away that one of the arms to her robes was missing and there was blood on her hands. "You won't be taking either of us today!" she said loudly.

"Right," Voldemort sneered. "No mudblood is going to stand up to my power. Bella," he said, turning to her. "Take Potter, but do not kill him. I expect him to watch as I kill the girl, and then I will kill him. Understand?"

Harry growled deeply and held his wand before him. "Ardwer vekod dan shiecel taux!" he said fiercely. "Be gone from here, Voldemort!"

"Expelliarmus!" The voice came from behind them, and Harry turned just as the blast struck him, sending him flying forward into the mud and his wand and dagger flew from his hand to land at the feet of the Dark Lord.

Harry had no time to react before Voldemort stepped forward with his wand held high. "Avada Kedavra!" he cried, and Harry screamed as the blast struck Hermione clean in the chest, blowing her off her feet.

He sat up breathing hard a few seconds later, blinking back tears. He was in his room again, in the darkness that had fallen with the night. He patted himself down and found no injuries, and saw his wand sitting on his nightstand next to the dagger.

"Oh God, what was that?" he whispered, wiping the cold sweat from his face and taking in several ragged breaths before his eyes started to adjust to the dark. He looked around and found that he was alone in his room - just as he had expected.

Knowing there was no way for him to get back to sleep, he climbed out of bed slowly and opened the door. He recoiled instantly at the sight that met his eyes - Ron was hanging from the rafters by a thick cord around his neck, his eyes staring blankly before him.

Harry slammed the door, trying hard to convince himself that he must not be awake yet, and turned back to his bed. He screamed again when he saw the blood that was splattering his mattress, and looked down to find his dagger sticking out of his chest. He balked and fell to his knees, and then forward again, catching himself on his hands so he was on all fours.

When he opened his eyes again, he was lying in his bed and he heard movement outside his door. Not even bothering to look for his glasses, wand, or dagger, he threw back the covers and ran to the door, wrenching it open quickly.

Hermione was walking passed, and jumped at the suddenness of the action. Before she could recover, Harry breached the distance between them and kissed her hard on the lips. He could feel her surprise at such an action, but then felt her arms go around him as she started to respond to the kiss.

He pulled away a bit to look into her eyes before he could feel her tongue on his lip again, and searched the pools of brown carefully. "Please tell me I'm not still dreaming," he whispered in a shaky voice.

"Unless I'm dreaming the same dream," she whispered back, looking concerned suddenly. "Is everything alright? What happened?" she asked, looking at him carefully. Without his glasses on, his eyes seemed even more expressive than usual, and she could see the cold sweat still clinging to his forehead and running down his cheeks. "What's wrong?"

Harry sighed in relief and held her tightly to him, breathing in as deeply as possible to try and replace the smell of death and blood that had affronted him with the lush smell of Hermione. After a few long minutes, he pulled back again and sighed. "Nothing," he whispered. "At least, not anymore."

"Did you have a nightmare, Harry?" she asked after a moment of silence passed between them. When he nodded, she gasped. "It wasn't V-Voldemort, was it?"

"No, my scar doesn't hurt," he said quickly to reassure her. "The dagger's doing its job still, don't worry." He then closed his eyes and looked away from his room. "But it was a nightmare, that's for sure."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly. "Everyone else is asleep, I just had to use the bathroom," she explained. Harry released her quickly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

She smiled and held out a hand to him. "I already went," she said. "It's fine."

Harry closed his eyes again, not wanting to meet her gaze as he told her what he had seen - at least, some of it. "I saw you die, 'Mione. Voldemort killed you."

She gave his hand a squeeze and led him back into his room. "I'm fine, Harry," she reassured him. "I'm not going to leave you any time soon, don't worry."

"You can't know that!" Harry objected. "You can't! What if we went out tomorrow and he found us? How do you know that -"

She pressed a finger against his lips to silence him and then pushed him down so he was sitting on his bed, and she sat next to him. "How do you know that you won't choke of a piece of bacon at breakfast tomorrow and die?" she asked. Harry looked at her in confusion, and she smiled. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen tomorrow. I'll still be here, and we'll still be together. I can't promise forever, but I sure intend to try. I want to..."

Harry looked at her when she trailed off. "You want to... what?" he prodded her. When she shook her head and bit her lower lip, he put a hand on her knee and squeezed. "C'mon, you want to what?"

She looked up to him and smiled. "I want to grow old with you, Harry," she said in a voice so soft that he could barely hear it. "And that means I can't be killed first. You either, got it?" She leaned in then and kissed him gently before pulling back again. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Hermione holding Harry next to her until his breathing became more rhythmic. "You okay now?" she whispered.

"I don't see myself sleeping anytime soon," he replied, looking up to her again. "But I am feeling a bit better. Thanks," he said, kissing her on the nose.

"Honestly, what did you expect me to do?" she asked with a smile. "Say tough luck, deal with it? Doesn't sound much like me, does it?"

"Thanks anyway," Harry repeated. "Even if you would have done it anyway, I still appreciate it."

She looked to him for a minute before standing from the bed. "Look, it's almost morning now. What do you say to getting dressed early and heading down to the kitchen to cook everyone breakfast? I'll join you in a few minutes when I'm dressed, sound good?" she suggested.

It was only then that Harry noticed that she was in her pajamas - the blue camisole on top and a pair of satin pants on bottom. He swallowed carefully and made sure to keep his eyes on her face and not somewhere else that seemed to be begging for his gaze. "Sure," he said with a smile. "I'll change out of my smelly clothes, too."

"Good," Hermione said with a grin as she stopped by the door. "I wasn't going to say anything, but those clothes either need cleaning or burning, and I haven't decided just which yet. It smells like you've worn them for a few weeks of Quidditch."

Harry grinned back and shook his head. "Just yesterday and through a very bad dream. I'll burn them later." It didn't take him long to get dressed. He didn't really have many clothes that fit him very well, given how many hand-me-downs of Dudley's he had, so he decided just to pull on a set of school robes before heading downstairs to meet up with Hermione again.

He felt his wand in his pocket, and he made if halfway down the stairs before realising that he had left his very important dagger on his nightstand. At the startling thought that Voldemort could enter his mind again, he stumbled up the stairs and scrambled back to his room, grasping for the dagger before sinking to his bed in relief. He never wanted to be without his safeguard again.

When he got downstairs again, Hermione was dressed in muggle clothes and had several frying pans and a grill set up on the stove. Harry found himself wishing he ever had had clothes that fit so well - though he had no complaints about seeing how nicely Hermione's jeans hung around her hips, or how her t-shirt molded to her form.

When she turned to face him, he was very carefully not staring at her anymore, and was in fact moving towards the coldbox to pull out some eggs. He held them up and she smiled and nodded to him.

"I'll make some pancake batter," she suggested, rummaging around in the cupboards for a large bowl and a mixing spoon. "Can you cook eggs?"

"'Mione, I can cook almost any meal," he promised her. "I've had a lot of practice." It wasn't until he had cracked three eggs and poured the yolks expertly into one of the frying pans that he noticed she had stopped moving, and he turned to her in surprise. There were tears in her eyes. Disregarding his eggs - it was just as well the burner wasn't lit yet - he went to her quickly and put a hand on either shoulder. "What's wrong?" he asked carefully.

She pulled him into a tight embrace and sighed into him. "You had it really bad there, didn't you?" she whispered. She knew she didn't have to say where she was talking about for him to understand.

He shrugged and turned back to the stove. "Some good things came out of it," he said, lighting the grill with a wave and a jab from his wand. "Like cooking skills."

Although Hermione spent most of the rest of the time they were in the kitchen cooking breakfast worrying about just what Harry had to go through growing up, they didn't speak of it again. In fact, very little was said as they worked together seamlessly to organise breakfast for six.

It was when Harry turned with the last frying pan of eggs and sent it crashing to the floor that everything went from an average morning to a terrible one. Hermione yelped in surprise, and turned to where he was facing and found Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway to the kitchen, still dressed from yesterday. There was soot on her cheek and parts of her robes were torn, and she was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet tightly in her hands.

In short, it looked like she had just come from a battlefield and picked up the morning paper on the way back. She looked from Hermione to Harry and back again slowly before sighing and closing her eyes as she held out the paper. "You'll want to see this, I'm afraid," she said softly. "But I must warn you that we know very little aside from what is said there."

Hermione took the paper and started to scan the headlines while Harry rushed over to his teacher and helped her to a chair. When he looked up again, Hermione had gone quite pale. He barely noticed her parents entering the room, and didn't even nod to his new godfather as he caught several of the top headlines of the paper as Hermione folded it back to read the bottom print.

_The Dark Mark Sighted!_

_Dozens wounded in Attack on St. Mungo's - Many More Dead_

_Attacks on Muggle and Non-Muggle Alike_

He blinked several times as he looked away from everyone and at the fire that was burning on the stove still. He was vaguely aware of smoke that was coming from one of the grills that had been left over the heat, and heard Hermione's father saying something before he realised that he had stopped breathing and took several large gasps of air.

When he closed his eyes tightly to try and regain his bearings, all he could see were words of blood. "I'm coming for you next, Potter." The words from his last encounter with Voldemort more than a month and a half ago - the image was burned into his brain.

He looked up again and saw that Hermione was saying something - he presumed that she was trying to say something to him the way she was looking at him, but he didn't hear what she said. All he could hear was a rushing of screams in his ears as he imagined the horror that had been laid down the night before. This was one of the times when he wished his imagination was much worse than it was.

By the time he found his feet moving towards the exit of the kitchen, he was aware that everyone was looking at him. He could see the worry on their faces, and it sickened him all over again. He didn't deserve their worry... it was because of him that they, too, could be killed any day now.

"I'm sorry, I failed you all," he whispered. He jerked off the hand that touched his shoulder and took another step before whirling around at another touch. "No!" he shouted in Hermione's face, barely even noticing that it was her. "No, stay away from me! You promised me that nothing would happen today! Just... all of you, stay away! You all know what happens when you get close to me!" Although a part of him registered the shocked look on Hermione's face, most of him disregarded it entirely. "I'm not killing any of you!"

Before any of them could move to react, he slammed the door to the kitchen and flew up the stairs three at a time. The door to his room was slammed and sealed shut before the kitchen door opened again.

Harry eventually become aware of voices outside his room, and someone trying the knob. He had been upstairs for almost an hour, he was sure. He turned away from the door and stood staring at the wall as they worked on destroying his charm. It wouldn't take long - not with Hermione, Remus, and McGonagall all working together, he knew - but it did prove a point, he was sure.

He didn't turn when the door opened, either. He heard a sniffle, and turned just a bit to see a red-eyed Hermione holding a tray in front of her. There were a few pancakes on it, and a goblet of a pink liquid.

"We... we thought you should eat something," she explained, trying to meet his eye. He looked away from her and heard her shudder as she tried to suppress a sob. "There's a dreamless sleeping drought here, too."

She set the tray down on his nightstand and then hurried from the room. The door hadn't even shut before he heard her burst into tears again. He remained staring at the wall for some time before taking a deep breath and turning around. The sight of the pancakes made him feel sick to his stomach - when they had made those together, everything seemed so much easier.

It was time to escape, even if it was for only a little while. He couldn't stand the thought of all those people dying because of him, and the idea of Hermione crying because she knew it was his fault didn't help matters. He picked up the goblet of pink potion and sat on his bed hard. After staring at it for a few minutes, he downed the entire contents and laid back, feeling the effects starting to grip him right away.

He was not aware of anything for quite some time. When a small groan escaped his lips as he tried to sit up, he knew right away he was still in his room, lying on his bed. That, at least, was a little comforting. He started when he heard paper rustling, and he drew his wand and pointed it to the corner in an instant.

Sitting in his desk chair was an older man with greying hair and small glasses. He was leaning back just a little and holding a paper in front of him open as he was scanning through it. His beard was still more brown than grey, so Harry assumed he must have been around 40. He had seen the man once before, by Gringotts in Diagon Alley.

"About time you woke up," he said gruffly, peering at Harry over the top of the paper. "She said it should have only lasted a few hours... you were under for about eight, though."

"Then why do I still feel tired?" Harry asked himself, looking away from Hermione's father as he lowered his wand slowly. "Look, what are you doing in here, anyway?" he asked when he looked back.

"I suppose I could ask you the same thing, Harry." It was only then that he folded the paper and set it on the desk next to him, turning his full attention to the wizard on the bed. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Look, Mr. Granger, I don't need some - "

"It's Mike, Harry," he said, sitting forward a bit. "And I think that you need someone to talk some sense into you right now, given that my daughter seems to feel you are worth it."

Harry shook his head and swung his feet over the edge of the bed so he could sit up and face him. "I don't need someone who doesn't understand what's going on trying to get me to talk, alright?"

"Then make me understand, Harry," Mike pressed him. "Tell me why my only daughter is in our room crying her eyes out. Tell me why she hasn't been able to talk since you blew up at her this morning." He stood up then and took a step towards Harry. "Tell me why you hurt her so badly."

"Simple," Harry replied, standing up to face him squarely. "She's crying for two reasons. One is because she knows how foolish it was to get close to me, seeing as I'm to blame for all those deaths. The second reason she's crying is probably because she feels sorry for all those people who died!" He shook his head and turned away. "It's all my fault."

"I agree, Harry," Mike said calmly, causing Harry to spin back to him. Everyone else he had spoken to about anything when he felt guilty was always telling him that it wasn't his fault. "At least, I agree that it is your fault she is in our room in her current state."

"Like I said - " Harry started, but Mike cut him off.

"She's in there crying because she feels so bad for you, knowing how much this whole thing is eating you up inside. She hates to think how this will only add to the weight on your shoulders, and you will refuse to put the blame where it rightfully belongs - on that dark wizard Voldeman," Mike said firmly.

"Voldemort," Harry corrected automatically, causing the older gentleman to smile slightly.

"Yes, that's the one," he said. "She is also crying because she is more worried about you than all the relatives who lost loved ones last night. She feels horrible about herself, worrying more about you than anything else." When Harry opened his mouth to reply, Mike shook his head and kept going. "Do you know why else she's crying, Harry? There is one more reason... the main reason, my wife seems to believe, and I agree. Hermione seems to think you understand her, so you tell me. You got it wrong so far, but I won't hold that against you. Why else is she crying?"

Harry frowned and looked away from his piercing gaze. "I don't know," he mumbled. "How would I? I haven't seen her since this morning when I yelled at her, and then I..." he trailed off as the sinking feeling rose in his stomach. "She's crying because of me. What I said to her."

Mike nodded and walked to the door. "She's crying because she thinks you hate her. If she's right, I'd prepare yourself for a very unpleasant holiday - I promise." He didn't say anything else as he opened the door quietly and slipped out, leaving Harry alone in his room all over again.

He sank to his bed slowly, letting out a slow breath, and held his head in his hands as things flew through his mind. He shook his head as he sat up again, forcing the thoughts of his own guilt out of his head. He could - and would - deal with what happened last night later. He could not leave Hermione crying because he had hurt her.

He reached for his mirror quickly and held it up before him before hesitating. "She probably hates me for this morning," he whispered to himself. "She... she's spent the whole day crying. How is seeing my face going to help anything?"

Standing up, Harry set the mirror down again and started pacing back and forth in his room before moving to the door and pressing his ear against it. Silence. There was no movement in the house. He pulled the door open slowly and peered into the hall carefully - it wouldn't do to be seen by anyone else right now. As he looked up and down the darkened corridor, he realised that he didn't know which room she would be in anyway - Mr. Granger had said she was in their room, implying her parents' room, not her own. Which room had Remus given them?

Sighing as he closed the door and retreated inside his room again, he picked up the mirror once more. "No choice now, is there?" he whispered to himself. Before he spoke her name into the shiny, reflective surface, he looked around his room carefully. He wanted her to come to his room so they could talk, but had to make sure there was space. He had left it in quite the mess at the end of summer, but it seemed that someone had cleaned it.

"Hermione," he breathed almost soundlessly into the surface of the mirror. Instantly, his face vanished from the surface, replaced with a murky blackness. "Hermione Granger," he whispered again, louder this time in the hopes that the mirror just hadn't caught the name the last time. No change, it was still just blackness. "Bugger," he said, setting the mirror aside. She really didn't want to speak to him after all. "Now what do I do?"

"Nothing rash, I hope." He grabbed his mirror quickly and looked into it to find Hermione looking back to him. Her father must have been right - by the redness of her eyes and nose and the way her hair was even worse than his usually was, there was no question about what she had spent her day doing. "Hi," she added quietly when he didn't reply.

"Oh, Hermione," he breathed a sigh of relief as he looked upon her. "You look terrible." As soon as he said the words, he wanted to take them back. It was not exactly what he had planned on saying, anyway. She didn't reply, but looked away from the mirror and sniffed a little, trying in vain to keep her nose from running too much. "Can... would you..."

When he didn't say anything else, she looked back. "What, Harry?" she asked quietly, as though afraid of what his answer might be.

"Could you come here? Would you mind, or would you rather stay as far away from me as humanly possible right now? I'd understand if you - "

"I'll be there in just a second," she promised, and the mirror shone for a moment before becoming reflective again, leaving Harry staring at himself. He didn't look much better off than Hermione, even though he hadn't been crying. He knew he looked broken, though, which was fitting, considering how he felt.

He set the mirror down as his door opened and Hermione slipped in closing it behind her. He stood up as she entered to greet her, but said nothing right away. She was still wearing the same light blue t-shirt and dark jeans that she had been wearing earlier, but she looked very tired, and very hurt.

She stood in the doorway for a few minutes before Harry took a step back towards the other side of the room and motioned to his bed for her to sit down. She gave a weak smile to him and proceeded to his bed, and he took a deep breath, closing his eyes carefully. "I'm sorry, 'Mione. I didn't mean to make you cry all day," he whispered, keeping his eyes shut tightly. He heard her breath catch, and he opened his eyes quickly to find her crying again, though not sobbing. "Oh, and now I did it again," he groaned, turning away from her.

"It's... it's okay," Hermione said quickly, her voice a little thick. "I just thought that you wouldn't ever talk to me again after... well, you know... and..."

Harry rolled up the sleeve on his left arm when it became obvious that she wasn't going to say anything else. "See this, 'Mione?" he asked quietly, pointing to his bracelet that was still securely on his arm. "This is my promise to you, to always protect you, and I don't intend to break that. I'm torn right now, though," he admitted, looking to her slowly. When she didn't say anything, he went on. "Right now, I don't know how to protect you. Either you get hurt by staying with me and me yelling at you, or you get hurt by not staying with me and trying to salvage our friendship."

Hermione stood faster than he thought possible and pointed to her own wrist. "I want to be with you, Harry," she said softly. "But I hurt you, too. I broke my promise that I made last night after your nightmares. I told you that nothing bad would..."

"How would you possibly know that that was going to happen?" Harry cut her off. "If that's your fault, then... then it's my fault that Ron has no table manners." Neither of them could help but grin at that comment, for Hermione was almost constantly telling him not to talk with his mouthful, and Harry didn't care either way.

"Then it's not your fault either, Harry," she said, taking a step towards him. "You didn't make Voldemort attack all those people. You were here, in this house... with me. Remember?"

"But it _is_ my fault, 'Mione!" Harry insisted. "You read what Voldemort wrote in the Ministry of Magic, right? I told you that he was planning on coming after my friends first over the holidays!"

"But you didn't cause it!" Hermione countered. "If it's your fault, then it's my fault too," she added stubbornly, crossing her arms in front of her and squaring off against him. "Got that?"

"You didn't cause it," Harry pointed out.

"Then neither did you!" she said proudly. "Now we're getting somewhere!" she declared.

Harry stuttered for a moment before shaking his head. "You're impossible sometimes," he sighed. When she smiled weakly to him, he smiled back. "That's a much nicer thing to see than you crying," he said as he took a step towards her. He stopped when they were just a foot apart, and he looked carefully into her eyes. "Are you alright?" he whispered. "Are we?"

Hermione bridged the remaining gap between them by wrapping her arms around him and leaning up to press her lips into his. He put one hand on the small of her back and the other gently on her neck and pulled her even closer as their lips met, determined to pour as much of his feelings for her into the kiss as possible.

This time when he felt her tongue slid slowly across his lips, he opened them slowly, inviting her in carefully. The sensation of her tongue in his mouth, rubbing against his own and running along the inside caused him to moan softly as his own tongue responded almost with a will of its own.

As she slid her tongue along the roof of his mouth, he slipped his into her mouth as well, rubbing against the underside of hers before swirling it around to tangle itself with it. It was apparently having a similar effect of her, as she moaned into him as her tongue started moving faster and with more force.

All sense of thought - or even breathing - went right out the window as they stood there, lips locked together. A sudden rapping sound outside caused them to snap apart quickly and turn to the door, afraid of what they might find for them there.

When the door didn't open and the knocking didn't go repeated, Hermione pulled away from Harry just a little bit to look into his eyes. "I think we'll be fine," she whispered, smiling to him. "Good night, Harry. Just remember that it's not your fault, and that I'll be here in the morning."

"Would you be?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.

She frowned her confusion. "Would I be... what?"

"Would you be here in the morning? I mean... will you stay here tonight?" he whispered into her ear as he pulled her close again. "Can you do that, for me?"

"I think I can do that," she replied, shivering at his breath on her ear. "But I don't think I'm going to change into my pajamas first, and I don't think you should either."

He nodded and pulled her onto his bed slowly. When they sat there for a moment, not moving, Hermione turned to him and gave him a gentle shove towards the mattress. Once he was lying down on his back, she cuddled into him, putting her head on his chest right next to his shoulder. She felt him sigh and heard his heart start to slow down, even before she felt his arms coming up to hold her.

"Good night, Harry," she whispered. He was too tired to even reply.

----------------------

Harry opened his eyes as something landed on his chest, and he looked up to see a child, about four or five, sitting there peering down at him. "You awake yet, daddy?" she asked with a giggle. "You did say we'd go flying today, didn't you?"

She had long black hair and deep brown eyes, and Harry blinked when she did, making her giggle all over again. "I guess so, babe," he said with a smile, picked her up off him and setting her on the bed next to him. He found that the rest of the bed was empty. "Mom's up already?" he asked, looking to the child.

"Yup," she said. "Mommy said that she had to get things ready for later today when Uncle Ron and Aunt Luna come over to visit," she explained. "But she did say that we had time for about three hours, but I had to wake you up first. She said something about you getting a good workout last night... did you go flying without me?" she accused him, watching for his reaction carefully.

'Something like that,'he thought to himself as he smiled back to her. "My broom was downstairs right next to the one we got you all night, so don't worry. Let me get dressed, and then we'll go out."

The little girl stopped next to the doorway and looked back to him. "Today's a really special day, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "Mommy said that today's your day, right?"

"That's what a lot of people call it," Harry admitted. "But I think it's really called the Day of Reckoning," he explained. "Five years ago today, Voldemort was killed."

---------------------

In the middle of the night, the door to Harry's bedroom cracked open and a tall figure crept in carefully. He observed the scene in the room for a few minutes before raising his wand to conjure a blanket. He draped it over the two sleeping figures to keep them warm on the chilly night and left without a word, his blue eyes twinkling in the darkness.

----------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	20. Padfoot, Moony, and Prongs would be Prou...

Chapter Twenty: Padfoot, Moony, and Prongs would be Proud 

Harry started to stretch as consciousness came to him again, but found such a feat quite impossible with the weight on his chest and right arm. He opened his eyes slowly to a head of bushy brown hair and smiled. She had stayed the night after all.

He reached down with his free hand and pulled the blanket that was over them up a little bit before returning his hand to her back, rubbing gently. She murmured after a few minutes, and then her head moved so she was looking up to him. "Morning, Harry," she managed. "Feeling any better?"

"How bad could I feel to wake up with a beautiful witch in my arms?" he whispered back, still smiling. He leaned forward just a little and kissed her forehead. "How about you? Are you still upset?"

"Only a little," she admitted. "And not with you," she added when she saw his smile fade a bit. "I take it you slept well, judging by that smile on your face."

"I had a good dream," he said, closing his eyes and seeing the image of the little girl who had been his daughter. "And it wasn't a nightmare. It was actually a good dream." As he spoke, he pulled her a little closer, enjoying both her warmth and the warmth of the blanket.

"That's good," she sighed, leaning into him and closing her eyes again for just a second before snapping them open again. "What time is it?" she asked. "And when did you conjure this blanket?"

Harry frowned as he thought about it. His internal clock was usually fairly accurate - that came about naturally when one rarely wears a watch - and he knew it was early still. Probably just after dawn, and he said as much. Then he shrugged. "I didn't summon the blanket," he admitted.

He was surprised by the look of fear in her brown eyes, and by the speed that she sat up. "Someone knows that I spent the night in here with you," she breathed. "Oh... this could be really bad..."

Harry set a hand on her arm and gave her a little squeeze. "Let's go downstairs and deal with what we have to," he suggested. "Besides, I suspect my tirade from yesterday will be more on everyone's minds than where you slept last night." 'That, and it could have been Lupin, and I doubt he'd say anything anyway...' He felt her stiffen a little on the bed next to him, and he winced slightly. "Look, 'Mione, I'm really sorry about that, you know that, don't you?"

She nodded as she tried to run a hand through her hair, but stopped at the many knots that she found there. "I think I'm going to have a run through the shower first," she said with a sigh. "Might help wake me up a little. Yesterday was a long day..." Harry nodded simply and waited for her to leave the room before getting up himself.

Once Harry had tied his robes shut and swung his sash over his head, he very carefully attached his dagger to his belt. After what his imagination was able to dream up last night, he wasn't about to take any chances with anything. He tucked his wand into the pocket closest to his hand when he was relaxed, and then left to go downstairs.

It was the second time in two days that he froze in the kitchen. Sitting at the table was Hermione's father, again reading the paper like he had been yesterday when he had talked to him. Harry noticed that there were several other papers next to him, but said nothing.

It took a few minutes before the older man seemed to notice Harry, and then all he did was look over the rims of his reading glasses as he folded the paper aside. "Morning, Harry. I take it you two have had a good long talk now?"

"We did," Harry replied with a solemn nod. "Thank you sir."

"What did I tell you yesterday?"

Harry smiled and shook his head as he took a seat at the table as well. "Sorry. Mike."

"Better."

Harry was about to reach for one of the Daily Prophets that was sitting on the table, but Mike's hand pulled them aside. "You'll want to look at these with either Mia or one of your professors," he explained. "I believe your headmaster is also looking for both of you this morning, so once she comes down, I suggest you go find him."

"Mia?"

"Daddy always calls me that," Hermione said from behind him, and he turned in surprise. He thought he had been listening, but the fact that she had snuck up behind him so easily meant otherwise. "That, or babe."

"Babe?"

Hermione smiled as she sat down next to him. "You are full of these one word questions today, aren't you?" She reached across the table to pick up the Daily Prophet, and then all traces of happiness faded instantly as she turned it to the front page. It was yesterday's paper.

"May I?" Harry asked quietly. The tone of his voice caused Mike to look to him in surprise and away from his wife who had just come into the kitchen. Behind her was Lupin and McGonagall. Hermione hesitated only for a moment before turning the paper towards him so he could read it.

No one said anything at all while Harry was reading. In fact, no one even moved, despite the fact that three people were standing in the doorway. All eyes were on the young wizard sitting at the table, reading through the articles carefully.

Once he was done, the anguish was obvious in his face as he pushed it away at looked up. The first thing he saw was Hermione, who was reaching out to hold him, and he accepted her arms gratefully. Several more very long minutes passed before they separated, and then Harry motioned for the three adults to join them at the table.

"We'll need to find a couple new members for the DA," Harry said into the silence. "It looks like we lost four..." He tried to say something else, but his throat was too constricted. Even if he did accept that it wasn't his fault - a fact that he still didn't entirely believe - it was still a horrific act.

"Because of their abilities, ten Death Eaters were captured and are being taken to Azkaban as we speak," McGonagall offered. "You trained them very well."

"Not well enough," Harry couldn't help but spit that out, and he took a deep breath as he looked to the table again. "But I guess it is better than nothing. No other Death Eaters were caught, right?" He then looked up and looked straight into his professor's eyes. "How bad off was St. Mungo's?"

He was surprised when his teacher broke their eye contact, for he had never known her to back down quite so easily before. "We don't know yet," she said softly. "The damage is still being assessed, and we are trying to find out who is injured and who has died without alerting Fudge to the Order's presence."

"Let me know, will you?"

"Of course, Harry."

-------------------

Once breakfast was over, as Harry had insisted on eating something before going to see the Headmaster, both he and Hermione excused themselves and made their way to the large downstairs study that was often used these days as the meeting room for the order. Harry found himself pleasantly surprised by Hermione's parents, who were nothing like he had expected, even after his brief run in with her father earlier.

They both seemed to care about their daughter a good deal, but they didn't once try to suggest that she was getting herself into dangerous situations, or even voice any concerns. Despite the fact that they were muggles and understood only what their daughter had told them about the magical world, they were very easy to get along with.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons that Harry didn't really feel like going to speak to Dumbledore once they had finished, but he knew that they didn't really have much choice in the matter.

After taking a deep breath, Harry pushed open the door to find their Headmaster staring into the fireplace while leaning on the mantle. It was the second time that Harry had seen him looking so... old. The aged wizard turned to greet them as he heard them enter, and both took seats across from him as he himself sat down.

"I believe..." Dumbledore began slowly, looking directly at Hermione. "That I will begin by appeasing some fears that you might have, Hermione," he said softly. "It was not your parents or anyone else who saw where you lodged last night... that was me. I do hope I didn't disturb you - it is so rare to see such purity these days, and I couldn't bare to break it."

"You... you're not mad?" Hermione asked in surprise. She had assumed that they would be getting an earful from whoever had found them, and Dumbledore's assurances, though welcome, seemed somewhat anticlimatic to her fears. "You don't mind the fact that I slept with Harry last night?"

"Since that is all you were doing... no I do not," he said solemnly, looking right into her brown eyes. Harry's hand on her knee caused her to look to him suddenly, breaking the eye contact, and Dumbledore blinked. "This is not the reason I asked you both here today, though," he added.

"Please, sir, I've had a rough couple of days," Harry said. "No mysteries or riddles right now, alright?"

Dumbledore observed Harry for a moment over the rim of his half moon spectacles, before smiling slightly. "It seems odd to hear you use that word, Harry," he said softly. "Riddles. Given that he is the cause of all your grief these days."

"Tom," Harry said with a nod.

"Indeed." Dumbledore then shook his head lightly and looked to both of them. "I have come to tell you two things today. The first is that the Order responded to the attacks made two nights ago, and did everything we could to stop the deaths. We failed in most places, but there were a few saved, thankfully. The Burrow is no more, but the Weasley's were not there anyway, and we did manage to protect Miss Lovegood."

"The Burrow's gone?" Harry asked in a whisper. It had been the first wizarding home he had been to, as well as the first place he had considered like a home, where he was treated like family. He knew all the Weasley's were strongly attached to the place, but both Ron and Ginny were especially. "Destroyed?"

"Do they know?" Hermione asked after a few minutes of silence. "Has anyone told them?"

"Several members of the Weasleys are in the Order," Dumbledore reminded them calmly. "Only the two youngest are not... so naturally they all are aware of the situation. Both the youngest Mr. Weasley and the spirited Miss Granger have asked to come here on New Year's Day."

"And?"

"We are planning on bringing several of your friends here, if that is alright..." came the reply. "Though we can't say just who right now."

"They asked to come here... that's good, right?" Harry asked Hermione, looking away from Dumbledore to the girl next to him. "That means they want to talk with us, right?"

"It sounds that way," Hermione said with a smile. Her smile seemed to melt the fear and horror away from Harry, and, after returning it briefly, they both looked back again. "What else, Professor?"

"I am afraid that I must insist on you both applying yourselves like never before in your studies with Minerva," he replied. "What she is to teach you in invaluable, and you must learn it quickly. It would be best if you could do so before the new year begins."

"You want us to learn to be animagi in eight days?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

Dumbledore stood and walked to the doorway before answering. "Minerva has often said that you, Hermione, are the brightest witch to ever grace Hogwarts with your presence. Please do not prove her wrong."

He opened the door to leave, but before either Harry or Hermione could even start to stand, their transfiguration professor walked into the room swiftly, shutting the door behind her. She was still wearing black robes, as both students had expected. It wouldn't seem right for her not to, after all, and they both doubted that she knew how to dress as a muggle anyway.

Hermione suddenly felt very self conscious wearing blue jeans and a white sweater top. Even though it seemed perfectly natural to her, and she was sure that Harry didn't mind, she still felt out of place with both Harry and McGonagall in robes.

Those thoughts went right into the fireplace as soon as McGonagall turned back to them. "We will start every lesson the same way," she said briskly. "Albus has told you how urgent our need has become, has he?" she asked in slightly kinder tones.

"Yes Professor," Hermione said, standing at once before the head of their house. "And we are both ready to learn whatever you can teach us." Harry stood up behind her and nodded in agreement.

"Very well," McGonagall said firmly. "Please sit on the ground and close your eyes. We will begin with simple mental focus exercises. I believe you are familiar with a few, Harry?"

The use of his first name caused Harry's eyes to snap open again, as he had been expecting her to call them both as she always did in school. He caught himself before he said anything on the matter, and shook his head. "No, I've never done any. Why?"

"Never?" she demanded in alarm. "Didn't Professor Snape teach you any focus to help protect your mind?" she asked, looking to him sternly as though she knew the answer.

"I don't think you want to know what our lessons were like, Professor," Harry said softly, closing his eyes again before he could see her reaction. "I still get sick sometimes thinking about them."

Although both kept their eyes closed, it wasn't hard to hear the witch pacing the room briskly, muttering under her breath in harsh tones at just what she would be saying to Severus the next time she saw him before she stopped in front of them again. "Fine. We will all start from equal ground, then." She sat down with them and closed her eyes as well. "As I said, we will begin every lesson the same way until you have both perfected the transformation, at which point it comes naturally and you will not have to worry. Clear your mind of everything but the sound of my voice, and then tone it out as you concentrate on the feeling on your body sitting on the floor."

Silence took over the small study, save for the sound of the wood crackling beneath the unforgiving flames. It wasn't long, however, that even that sound was drowned out as both Harry and Hermione took in deep breaths and tried the best they could to follow their professor's instructions.

"While you are concentrating on the feeling of existing, I will explain a bit about animals and your bodies," McGonagall's voice permeated the silence after almost half an hour. "Your physical body holds a great deal of energy, and makes up the shape of your being. It has been said that your true self is contained in your soul, or core, and that is the fact that we will be working with today. Your core is infenisimally small, and can fit in the smallest of animals, or can take up enough room to fill a dragon."

Silence again took the room as she allowed her words to sink in. "So in other words," Hermione spoke up, only her mouth moving as she continued to relax. "Our core fits our body's shape, regardless of what body we are using at any given time."

"Very good, Hermione," McGonagall said, allowing herself a small, unseen smile. "The core holds incredible power, but is also fragile. This is why one must never attempt more than a single animal form... the core could shatter under the strain of trying to fit more than two forms at once."

"How did you decide on a cat as your animagus form?" Harry asked. He was finding the relaxation exercise very helpful, and wished that he had had such a thing last year before - and after - Snape's lessons. "Was there a reason, or just instinct?"

"A common myth," McGonagall corrected. "I never chose a cat as my form, Harry."

"What?"

"Excuse me, Professor?" Hermione stressed the word Professor as she turned her head towards Harry, trying to tell him to be more respectful without speaking. "But I thought everyone chose their form - that's what we understood from talking with..." she trailed off suddenly before speaking Sirius's name, not wanting to upset Harry.

"Sirius told us that he chose to be a dog, while my father chose to be a stag, so they would be big enough to keep a werewolf at bay," Harry said urgently. "Remus told us that... Wormtail," he spit out the name. "Chose to be the small rat so he could slip through to hit the knot in the Whomping Willow."

"Indeed they did," McGonagall affirmed for them. "James and Sirius both chose to be the larger animals, while Peter picked the small one."

Hermione gasped as she realised just what their teacher was telling them. "So, we don't pick the animal, just the size we want?" she suggested. "And then the animal picks us, right?"

Professor McGonagall actually chuckled then before speaking. "Very good, Hermione. Ten points to Gryffindor when we return to Hogwarts." Silence took the room again before she clapped, startling both students out of their stupor and making them both open their eyes quickly. Harry's wand was also in his hand, though he didn't remember actually drawing it, and his other hand was on the hilt to his dagger.

When he saw their teacher simply standing up, he lowered his wand and removed his hand from the weapon at his side quickly as he shook out his head and stood up as well. "So what was all that about, then?" he asked.

"The calming of our minds helps settle our core so it will be prepared for the strain that comes with changing physical forms for the first few times. After that, it will be prepared for the stress, and the state of our minds won't matter," Hermione explained before McGonagall had a chance to answer.

Their professor nodded and opened her mouth to speak when a knock on the door interrupted her. She looked to the clock on the wall quickly and frowned. "Already?" she muttered. Shaking her head, she looked to both Harry and Hermione again. "For tomorrow, I want you both to have decided on the size of the animal you want. Peter chose very small, I chose a small animal, and Sirius and your father chose large animals. Make the distinction clear in your mind. Tomorrow I want to hear the reasons, too."

"Just before you go, Professor, I have a quick question," Hermione said just as their professor turned. When their head of house looked back, she went on quickly. "What about clothing and our wands?"

"And my dagger?" Harry added, suddenly concerned. He wouldn't be trying any more animagus training if he couldn't keep his dagger with him.

"Have no fears on the matter," McGonagall said firmly. "It will all become clear with time... time that we will be fitting in, don't worry. As for your dagger, Harry..." she said, trailing off as she opened the door. On the other side stood a figure cloaked in green who stood solemnly and silently. "I believe your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher might be able to help you understand it."

"I am here today, Minerva, because Kailyn told me that Miss Granger requested a moment of my time," Talisien corrected her. "I will speak with him later about what I know of the Oakrium." He then turned to the two inside. "I believe my mate wishes for a word with Mr. Potter," he added. "She is waiting in the kitchen."

"What about, sir?" Harry asked. It felt odd to be calling him sir after going for more than two months of calling him by name, but he was going by Talisien's lead, and he had called them formally.

"That is for you to decide."

No more words were spoken until Hermione and Talisien were alone in the study, and then the tall elf shut the door without appearing to move before turning towards her again. "Now then... what is it you require, Hermione?"

"I didn't expect you to come so soon," Hermione managed. "Not with all that has been going on with the Order recently, anyway."

"I do not involve myself with the day to day runnings of the Order," he explained. "Fey has asked for me to keep distant in this matter... she feels that I have risked my life against Dark Lords enough for even an elf's incredible lifespan."

Knowing his history as she did, Hermione had to admit that that was probably true, but she was glad that she hadn't heard any of that argument. Talisien didn't seem like the type to sit back willingly and not help when needed. "It seems a little trivial now, but..."

Talisien's hand cut her off, and he lowered his hood in the same motion to look into her eyes. "This is about the necklace that Harry gave you during the November Ball, is it?" When she could only nod, he smiled. "I believe I understand. I will see what I can find for you within my domain. You will have it in two days... is that soon enough?"

"I need it by the day after tomorrow anyway, so that would work."

"I'll do what I can," he promised. "Congratulations, by the way."

"For what?"

"For accomplishing something that almost no human has been able to master for the last dozen centuries. The ability to use inner magics effectively," he explained. "You unlocked Salazar's passageway on your first attempt, and didn't allow the ash to faze you much at all."

"It felt like I was being ripped in two after it opened," Hermione said. "What was that all about?"

He nodded for a moment, as though he had barely heard her, before actually replying. "That would be the ash I spoke of. Spellash. It is the reason that inner magics use is no longer taught... without the strength of mind, it would have torn you apart."

"So why could I use it if it is so powerful?" Hermione asked pointedly. "I mean, I know I'm a smart witch, people keep telling me that, but I know that I'm not a powerful one. Harry has more power in his little finger than I could ever hope for."

"That is not true," Talisien said firmly. "He has a different type of power. He is not bound by the spells that he casts, and makes them do what they have to. You, on the other hand, use every spell that you cast exactly as they are intended. Both are powerful abilities, and with your use of inner magics, your spells will only gain in power." He stopped as he put the hood back up on his cloak and turned to the door. "When the school year begins again, I will begin training you in the advanced healing methods of the elves... it is done with inner magics that you should be able to tap into."

"Thank you, sir."

"I will not help fight the war, child. That does not mean I won't help at all."

------------------

Harry walked into the kitchen slowly, not entirely sure what the Lady of Noyadin wanted to speak with him about. He found her sitting at the table facing the fireplace, and followed her gaze to the red flames as they danced across the wood, devouring it slowly.

He heard her mutter something under her breath, but he couldn't make out the words. He could see the effects, though, as the flames suddenly roared with energy and some even licked out of the fireplace. The kitchen immediately started to get almost unbearably warm before the flames died down to almost nothing again and started in on the wood once more.

"Talisien said you wanted to speak with me?" Harry asked hesitantly, not wanting to interrupt her when she was so obviously concentrating.

She looked away from the flames, and he could have sworn that the fire followed the turning of her head as she considered him for a moment. "Actually, I believe he feels that you wanted to speak with me..." she said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. He wouldn't usually have asked such a simple question even if he was confused, because he knew he wouldn't usually get an answer. With the elves, though, his odds were much greater.

"I mean, child, that my mate believes you wish to speak with me about your intended," Fey explained as she stood up. The apparently living fabric of her dress shimmered red as she stood up, and Harry found himself reminded of the flames once more. "Something about the request that you made of my verdurne."

"Verdurne?"

"My granddaughter."

Harry thought for a moment, and then remembered asking her during the interrupted birthday party if Hermione could watch his training. "Something about Hermione watching me train with my dagger?"

"The Oakrium, child, and yes," Fey replied simply. "Do you truly believe that she would be happy just watching? My understanding of the girl is that she loves to learn... anything and everything that comes her way, so long as it isn't dark."

Harry shook his head as a grin appeared on his face. "I think she'd learn about the dark things, but would never use them," he corrected. "She'd learn so she could try to figure out a way to counter them."

"She reminds me of an old friend of mine," Fey offered after a few minutes of only hearing the fire in the background. "She just seems to have the same vibe. Of course, my friend didn't start reading everything in sight until after our journey was over and she started travelling with Ali."

"Greensleeves?" Harry suddenly remembered the name. "Hermione reminds you of your friend Greensleeves?"

Fey nodded. "She does indeed. Greensleeves was very open with everyone, and always wanted to learn. She drank up knowledge like your friend Ronald drinks butterbeer." Harry must have looked confused, because she looked away from him for a moment before asking another question. "Is there something on your mind about my old friend?"

Harry winced at the question. It was true that the elves would answer anything he had asked them so far, but they also seemed to have the uncanny ability to tell when he was curious. Much like Dumbledore, but with the elves and how they hadn't hid anything from him, he felt it wouldn't work to try to hide something from them. "Was she really in love with Ali?"

"It worked both ways," Fey corrected. "And yes." At Harry's continued confusion, she leaned closer to him and smiled softly. "Many look at it as a forbidden love, as no young could ever have come about thanks to their union - and not only because it was tragically cut short, either. However, love is as love is. Pure."

Harry considered this information for a moment before deciding that it really wasn't all that important for him to wrap his mind around. He knew some people thought that way, and he had nothing against it. "So how could you help Hermione learn what Kailyn is teaching better than just observing?"

Fey pushed a small object across the table, and Harry picked it up hesitantly. It was wrapped carefully in a red and white cloth that seemed very old. As he unwrapped it slowly, the scent of the ages came to him, almost as though the fabric was trying to tell some long forgotten story just by the smell.

Whatever that story was, however, was forgotten as soon as the fabric revealed what was hidden inside. There was a dagger, much shorter than the foot long bladed dagger at his own side, but a dagger nonetheless. This dagger looked rather simple and plain, but had a golden pommel and an odd rune etched into its surface. He drew it from the sheath slowly, and saw the rune repeated on the blade near the hilt. On the other side of the hilt was another rune, although this one appeared to have been carved into the blade after it was forged.

"Greensleeves found this blade shortly after she and Ali set out together on their own journey. Ali has held onto it ever since that journey ended... but recently she gave it to me. Hopefully it will bring better fortune to your intended."

Harry sheathed the blade again and wrapped it up once more. "Are you sure this is alright to give her?" he asked. When she nodded, he tucked it into his robes. "Thank you. I will give it to her later."

"I know."

-----------------

Just after Harry turned away from the door as he shut it behind him, he heard a gentle knock. Turning back, he opened the door to his room again and found Hermione standing just outside, looking a little nervous. This should have been enough to tell him that something strange was going to happen, but he didn't put two and two together right away.

"What's wrong, Hermione?"

She shook her head and looked up and down the halls quickly before darting into the room and closing it behind her. "Would you mind bending the rules a little... just for me?" she asked in a whisper.

Harry smiled and shook his head. "I guess Ron and I really have managed to corrupt you, haven't we?" he replied. "What do you need me to do?"

"You sure you don't mind?"

"Hermione," Harry said sternly, but his eyes showed he was teasing her. "If you don't tell me what you need me to do, then not only will I get more and more worried about how dangerous and terrifying I'm sure whatever it is will be, but it also will give me more and more time to listen to your voice in my head telling me to listen to reason."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle at that comment before sobering again. "It's not much... not really, anyway," she whispered. "I just want you to sleep well tonight."

"How is that -" Harry started before she cut him off.

"With me in your arms again."

Harry could have sworn that time froze suddenly, or at least slowed down to an almost unbearable level. He could hear his heart beating slowly in his ears, even though he was sure it was going faster than it ever had before, and he could hear the swishing of Hermione's eyelashes as she blinked to him.

Two blinks seemed to take forever, but it was all the time he needed to find his voice again. "Last night... we were together to comfort each other, right?" Hermione nodded, and he put a hand on both her shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze and a little massage before going on. "Then tonight..."

"I need comfort!" Hermione blurted out suddenly. "If that's the reason you need, then I need comfort," she repeated. He knew instantly that she was actually alright, as looking into her warm earthy eyes, he could read her easily... just as easily as she could read him in the same manner. She looked away and sighed. "No... not really, I guess I don't..."

When she turned as though to leave, Harry tightened his grip on her shoulders, and she froze. "Could it be that my girlfriend just wants to cuddle next to me at night?" he whispered in a voice so quiet he could barely hear his own words. She nodded anyway, though, and he smiled. "I guess I should be honoured."

She frowned in confusion. "Why?"

Harry's smile broadened as he took a step away from her. "You're willing to break the rules just to be close to me!"

She took three very fast steps towards him until she was less than an inch away, glaring at him. "If it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want anyone to catch me in here... much less catch me in here asking to sleep in your bed - never mind how bad 'Can I sleep with you?' sounds - then I would be forced to hex you with something very fierce."

"But since you are concerned..." Harry trailed off.

Her frowned vanished and she stood a little higher, pushing up on her toes to meet his lips with her own. In an instant he was holding her close to him, closer again as he responded to her desire. He felt her own arms wrap around him, and suddenly he found them both on the bed as his tongue started fighting with her own in a maddening attempt to become one with each other.

They both pulled away breathless, and Hermione looked away almost as once as a blush crept up her cheeks. "I guess I'd have to kiss you," she replied to the question that Harry had almost forgotten he had even asked.

Harry leaned in to kiss her again, and groaned after a moment as he pulled away just a little. "We... we shouldn't be doing this right now..." he said softly.

"I know," Hermione replied, pulling him back down to her. She actually growled softly to him when he pulled away again almost at once, and then she backed off quickly. "Sorry," she said, still a little breathless from their first kiss of the night. "I know, you said you want to take things slowly..."

"And you want to sleep with me here and now?" Harry asked in surprise.

She blushed again instantly, and shook her head quickly. "No... that's not what I was asking for," she said. "I just wanted some time to..." She trailed off, unable to finish her thoughts.

There was a long silence before Harry kissed Hermione on the nose and smiled down to her as he rolled off her to lay down next to her instead of on top of her. "I know," he reassured her. "I know. But for now... is just being here with me enough?"

"Are you going to change into your pajamas tonight?" Hermione asked in response. Harry shook his head.

"You don't have yours here, and besides, you said you'd feel more comfortable with us in our normal clothes." He then ran a hand through her hair gently. "But it this good enough?"

She responded by curling up next to him and resting her head in the little niche that she had claimed last night between the middle of his chest and his shoulder... right above his heart, he realised as he felt it beating against her softly, as though lulling her to sleep. Perhaps it was, too, for as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her, he felt her breathing steady and slow as sleep took her.

He wasn't long to follow as he focused on the sound of her steady presence.

------------------

Looking back, Harry had to admit that their morning wake up could have been worse. In theory. It took him a few minutes to figure out just how that could have been possible before finally falling back on his enemy Voldemort.

If Voldemort had come to wake him and Hermione up, it would have been worse.

As it was, that was the only way he could think of that could have been worse as he found himself being lead into the kitchen by his godfather while Hermione's mother stayed upstairs with her.

"Well?"

Harry turned slowly to face Remus Lupin and took a deep breath. "Well what?" he asked as steadily as he could manage.

"What do you think you're doing sleeping in the same bed as Hermione like that?" he said in a loud, angry voice. "You're both barely sixteen for crying out loud!"

With a defiance that he didn't really feel, Harry held himself firmly. "Is this going to take long? I didn't even get to say good morning to her before I was dragged off!"

To his surprise, Remus actually was smiling as he started shouting again. "Don't take that tone with me, Harry Potter! You have to listen to reason and order every now and then, so listen good!" As the werewolf spoke, he sat down by Harry and motioned to a chair next to him. Once Harry finally sat down, a little confused, he spoke again. "I think that was loud enough to take care of her parents' concerns," he explained.

"What are you on about?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you, Harry. You're doing a bang up job in courting Hermione, and I figured that if they thought I was chewing you out so harshly, then they'd go easier on both of you in the future," Remus explained.

There was something about his tone that set wheels spinning in Harry's mind. The Remus Lupin that he had known several years ago as his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would never have said something like that. In fact, there was only one person who would have... "You aren't Padfoot, Remus," Harry said softly, looking away. "So there's no need to try to be."

When silence met his ears in response, Harry finally forced himself to look back, and saw the shock in his godfather's face. "I know I'm not, Harry," Remus said softly. "And I wasn't really trying to take his place... but I thought you might want to hear the advice like he would have given it."

Harry smiled and shook his head. "I know how Sirius would have said it, Remus," Harry reassured him. "He would have suggested all sorts of locking and silencing charms to ensure privacy next time." He took a deep breath and looked into the older man's tired eyes carefully. "I wouldn't mind a Remus suggestion, though."

His ex-Professor sat back carefully, as though considering the request, and then smiled again. "Alright, Harry. There is only one thing that I can really suggest, beyond telling you to be careful and not do anything that you know is too much."

"And what would your suggestion be, then?" Harry asked after a long pause.

-----------------

"Wow," Hermione offered after a long silence took the room, only to be broken by the sound of Lupin shouting at Harry. "Sounds like Professor Lupin is really giving it to Harry, isn't he?"

"I doubt it, dear," Jane Granger said softly, sitting on Harry's bed next to Hermione. He daughter hadn't gotten out of bed yet, and was still dressed in her clothes from yesterday. That made Jane a little more comfortable, not only because she had just found her daughter sleeping in the arms of a young man, but because it made her feel a little more at home in her 'muggle' clothes. "He's probably trying to make sure I don't go too hard on you. He said that Harry's used to being punished, and nothing he can say right now would be half as bad as some of what he's been through."

The phrase 'I will not tell lies,' flashed through Hermione's mind, and she had to agree with her mother. "Harry's tough," Hermione said. "He'll be fine."

"You care about him a great deal, don't you?"

Hermione blushed and looked away rather than meet her mother's piercing gaze. "That obvious, is it?"

"I doubt my daughter would be caught in the bed of a boy she didn't have very strong feelings for, right?"

"So... you aren't mad?" Hermione asked, surprised by how calm her mother seemed. She had expected it to be much worse, all things considered. "You don't mind the fact that I was in here?"

"I was a little shocked," Jane admitted. "But I think I can understand. You've told both your father and I a bit about Harry before, so we knew it was coming eventually." Although she was talking calmly, Hermione winced at the statement. There had been a lot that she had left out over the years.

"He's done a lot for me over the years," Hermione said slowly. "And I didn't tell you all of it, either."

"You didn't want us to worry?" Jane suggested.

Hermione smiled. "I was going to say that," she said. "But it's true. I didn't. But now that you're here... you must know that it's a little more dangerous than I've let on in the past."

"Thanks to Voldemort?"

"Him too," Hermione said softly. "Actually, I guess it all comes back to him in one way or another. I told you about the troll in first year, didn't I?" It could get a little confusing every now and then as to just what she had told her parents, and what she had left out of her letters home.

"In first year, you were attacked by a mountain troll, but Harry and Ron saved you."

"Harry was the one who convinced Ron to help save me, though," Hermione pointed out. "But that was about as bad as anything I told you, right? About how I met two new friends?"

"But there's more," Jane said pointedly. "I take it, a lot more."

"That time in second year when I didn't write you any letters, I wasn't busy," Hermione said after a while. "I was petrified. Not scared - well, I was - but rather, more like a living statue. A basilisk caused it... and if not for Harry, than that thing would still be roaming the school, and would have killed students by now." At her mother's confused look, she quickly explained a bit about the dangerous king of serpents.

"A boy of twelve took down a creature like that?"

"We could hardly believe it either," Hermione admitted. "But that's what he faced in second year. He protected me... if not for him, then even after I was cured, I would have either been sent home for protection, or killed."

"One being no better than the other?"

Hermione couldn't help but smile at that comment - she had told her mother about her statement from first year already. "In third year... he protected me from Professor Lupin when he turned werewolf in front of us. He also protected me when we thought his godfather - Sirius Black - was a murderer. Not only that, but he held the Dementors at bay to protect both him and myself."

"The soul sucking things? How did he do that?"

"It is a very complicated charm," Hermione admitted. "A Patronus is the only thing that can scare off Dementors, but Harry did it. His was enough to drive off hundreds of them at once."

"It sounds like Harry is a very talented wizard," Jane pointed out, and she saw that Hermione blushed at the comment almost instantly, a fact that confused her. "But I suppose he has had help, right?"

"In fourth year, I helped him through that blasted tournament," Hermione explained. "And it was so wonderful to be working beside him so closely, even though it was horrible times. He had to go up against a dragon, mom!"

"Wasn't fourth year the one where you met Victor?" Jane pointed out, remembering the letter about the Yule Ball and the second task - she had never figured out what the first task was yet.

Hermione groaned and nodded. "Yes, mom, but it wasn't like that between us, and you know it. He wanted more, but he was too old. And besides..."

"Besides?" Jane pressed when Hermione trailed off.

"I had already started looking at Harry anyway..." she mumbled under her breath.

"What about last year?" Jane asked. "I mean, I understand about the danger at the Ministry and all, but it seems that Harry has done something each year just for you. You said in fourth he would listen to you above all others... so what about last year?"

"The same," Hermione whispered. "He would always seem to come to me when he had something he was having trouble with. He even listened to me when I asked him to check on Sirius before doing something rash." She looked away from her mother and sighed. "Last year, he was a true leader. You should have seen him leading the DA, and how adamant he was about going to the Ministry alone. He didn't want anyone else to be in danger."

Hermione barely noticed that she was fiddling with her bracelet, and that thought only made her think of her necklace as well, which she grasped for a moment before looking back up to her mother. There was something important that she had to ask before more time went passed.

"Mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"If... if anything ever happened to me..." Hermione trailed off, trying to find the right words. She had no idea how Harry had managed it with Lupin, Fred, and George. "I mean, if something went wrong in this war... could you and dad look after Harry?"

Jane looked back to her daughter in surprise. "You think something might?"

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility," Hermione admitted. "On the other hand, I suspect Harry would rather die than let anything hurt me, so it could be a moot point anyway..."

"We will look after him if it comes to it," Jane cut her daughter off. "So have no fear."

A comfortable silence feel between mother and daughter then, one that both were used to in their many long talks over the years. Hermione slowly looked to her mother, trying to figure out where they stood after this morning. "Are you mad about this morning?" Hermione whispered. When her mother shook her head, she pressed on before she could lose her nerve. "Can I stay here again tonight? Or for the rest of the holidays?"

"Why?" Jane asked.

It was amazing how one simple word could make her world spin, and Hermione had to close her eyes to try and concentrate. A great, powerful feeling was rising up within her, and when she looked to her mother again, there was a small smile on her face.

"Because I love him."

---------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	21. Wandless Magics Core Magics

Chapter Twenty One: Wandless Magics (Core) 

The sound of Hermione breathing was all that Harry was focusing on that morning in the study. Although Professor McGonagall had suggested that they focus on either nothing at all or the sound of the fire, Harry found himself relaxing more listening to the steady in and out breaths from his classmate and - he could admit it - his girlfriend.

"You have decided on a size, Harry?" McGonagall's strict voice was usually distant and soft, but Harry resisted the temptation to open his eyes just yet anyway. He knew he wasn't supposed to until she said so.

"I..." Harry started as a brief image of a large black dog flashed through his mind. "Yes. I want to be a larger animal. Like my father and... Sirius." He whispered the last name, and found himself thinking of the fireplace suddenly. He was very glad that Remus had done some redecorating in the form of throwing out a few house elf heads.

"And you, Hermione? I assume you have chosen, correct?"

Harry half thought he felt her nod in response to the question before she replied, but he might have just been hearing things. "I want to be a smaller animal... like you, Professor," Hermione admitted.

"Very good," McGonagall said, clapping her hands together once to tell them to open their eyes. Even though it was the second day of lessons - and the fourth lesson in total - they were used to the command by now. "In that case, I want you both to concentrate your magic. While you are focusing with your eyes open this time, you must scan through your mind for animals of the appropriate size. In theory, you should..." she trailed off as a glow started to surround Hermione.

Harry's focus was shot the moment she started to shrink down in size until she was standing at about the same level of Crookshanks. He was very glad that the half kneazle wasn't in the room suddenly. She stayed that size for three long breaths before snapping to her original height again.

Their Professor cleared her throat with a smile and nodded. "Indeed. You should adjust your size to match. This means you are ready for the next step." As she said this, she looked to Harry, who quickly started to focus again after giving Hermione a brief smile.

It was the oddest sensation as everything around him started to grow just a little bit. Once he was sure that everything was at least a foot taller than it had been moments ago, just as quickly the experience was over and everything was back to normal. He looked back and forth between his professor and Hermione. "Did I do it right?" he asked.

"Absolutely, Harry," Hermione reassured him.

"Good," McGonagall said. "You can both do it properly. In that case, I want you to do it thirty more times, and then you may take a short break to get something for lunch. After lunch, we will delve a little deeper into your magic and see if we can get a glimpse of your animagi form." At their shocked expressions, she smiled lightly to them. "Usually it would take several weeks to get to the stage that you have both reached. You should be very proud, but we still have a lot of work to do."

When Harry collapsed into the closest chair in the kitchen an hour later, he wondered briefly if he now had an idea about how a marathon runner must feel after training, and the idea brought a smile to his face as Hermione slumped into a chair next to him.

"That's wonderful, isn't it?" she asked with a weak smile. "I mean, that we're so far along already. If we really push ourselves this afternoon and evening, then we might even be able to take form, even if it is only briefly."

"Aren't you tired, 'Mione?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Beyond tired," Hermione said with a grin as she set her head on the table just a moment before Harry did. "I think Ron would say knackered, actually."

"True. Hungry, though? Or thirsty?"

"Not enough to get up just yet," she replied, lifting her head and pushing her brown bushy hair out of her equally brown eyes. "Why? Hoping I'd be able to get it for you?"

"No!" Harry objected at once, sitting up quickly and finding her giggling at him. He loved it when she giggled -her eyes seemed even richer whenever she did, and he found himself getting lost in them again. When she blinked, the spell was broken and he shook his head. "No, I was offering, actually."

"You can move?"

"No need," Harry replied. He looked over to the counter and saw a basket of dinner rolls and a pitcher of pumpkin juice that someone had probably left out earlier by mistake. "Accio rolls and pitcher," he said, holding up both hands to catch the basket and jug as they flew towards him. "Accio goblets," he added once he had set them down. Turning back to Hermione, he found her staring at him in some sort of shock. "What?" he asked. "Didn't you think of a summoning charm?"

"I... Harry..." Hermione started, shaking her head as though to clear cobwebs from it. "You just summoned those without a wand, didn't you?"

Looking back to the goblets in his hand and the food on the table, he shrugged. "I guess. Do you want some or not?"

"Of course I do!" Hermione replied hastily, picking up a roll and biting into it rather savagely as he poured some juice for both of them. "But I was just saying that what you did just now..."

"I've been doing little things like that for a while," Harry interrupted her. "Summoning stuff and the Lumos and Nox spells, I mean," he explained. He saw an odd glint in her chocolate eyes suddenly, and he held up a hand. "Can we save the lesson for later, Professor?" he asked with a grin. Leaning in a bit, he dropped his voice to a whisper. "Your parents didn't yell too much at you this morning, did they?"

His sudden shift of topics seemed to catch her by surprise, but she recovered quickly enough. After taking a pull from her goblet, she leaned in as well. "My mom's very understanding," she whispered. "So's my dad. They know we're not doing anything that we're too young for. How about you?"

Harry shook his head. "Well, Remus started by trying to teach me a few locking and silencing charms..." he said slowly, waiting for her reaction. When she shot back in surprise, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Then I pointed out that he sounded too much like Sirius." The laughter was gone from his eyes in an instant at the name, and she leaned in quickly.

"What did he say?"

"He said he was trying to make me feel better," Harry admitted. "But then I told him that I wanted his reaction, and if I was going to be punished for it, so be it."

Hermione looked into Harry's green eyes for a moment as though searching them before saying anything. "You'd take a punishment over him reacting like..."

"Yes," Harry cut her off. "Remus is my godfather now," he added. "So I don't want him pretending to be someone else when he's acting out his responsibilities."

"So I guess that means we won't be sleeping in the same bed again for quite some time, right?" Hermione asked in a quiet whisper. After her talk with her mother in the early morning, she couldn't help but be a little disappointed by the way things were turning out. She wanted to be as close to him as possible at night - his mere presence meant so much more than ever before suddenly.

"Do you want to know the one piece of advice he gave me?" Harry asked with a grin. When Hermione nodded hesitantly, as though afraid of the answer, he went on. "He said that when we are alone, I should never hesitate to listen to you first, above all others."

Hermione smiled broadly as she leaned back in her chair again. "I knew I liked him for at least one good reason," she laughed. "He really said that?"

"Not quite what I expected either, truth be told," Harry admitted.

They both sat in relative silence for a few minutes as they ate what Harry had brought over before standing again. Hermione stopped Harry by the door. "So, does that mean we can spend tonight together, too?"

"So long as you don't mind if I kiss you," Harry said, wrapping an arm around her to pull her a little closer. "I didn't really get to say good morning today, after all."

Unfortunately, their lessons after lunch didn't go quite as well as any of them had hoped, given how exhausted they were. Taking half an hour break after draining themselves really wasn't enough. They did manage to change sizes a few more times, and McGonagall told them about a few of her friends who were also animagi.

This fact seemed quite odd, given that they had never seen her with anyone outside of the school before. She seemed almost lost in another world as she spoke about her friends that she hadn't seen for several years - they would only get together for a reunion every now and again.

After supper, on the other hand, was a lot better. The long rest and good food seemed to help replenish their magic reserves to an almost brand new level. After their relaxation exercises, their Professor stood up and abruptly changed into a cat.

Harry smiled to Hermione and nodded to her. "You first," he offered.

Although she looked a little nervous, she closed her eyes and brought her hands up a little to try and help her focus. The odd white glow surrounded her again, and at the ground before her a small animal seemed to be taking form in the light. With a bushy lion tail and the feline physique, the animal sat proudly in front of her.

In an instant, the creature vanished again and Hermione faltered for a moment before sitting down hard on the ground, feeling drained. She shook her head at Harry when he tried to go to her aide. "Your turn, first," she insisted while the tabby cat just looked back and forth between them.

"Right," Harry agreed. Unlike Hermione, he kept his eyes open as he brought his hands up. The point of this exercise was to show them what their forms would look like, and give them an indication for tomorrow just what they were striving towards.

The glow that formed around him shifted abruptly to be in front of him instead, and a large creature started taking shape. It took him more than a minute to realise that he was looking at what appeared to be a leopard with grey fur and black splotches before the air shimmered in front of him and he fell back in shock, the form vanishing in an instant.

The leopard had spread a set of brilliant blue translucent wings just before he had fallen.

When he came back to his senses and found both Hermione and McGonagall hovering over him, concern evident on their faces, he shook his head and smiled. "I'm fine, don't worry," he said quickly. "Just a little more tired than I expected, that's all."

"Did you manage to see your animal first, Harry?" McGonagall asked as Hermione helped him back to his feet. "If not, then I am afraid that I must ask you to try again."

Harry frowned at the question. "Of course I saw it. Didn't you?"

Hermione answered before their Professor could. "Only the person attempting the image can see the creature before them, Harry. We don't know if you saw anything or not," she explained calmly, though she still seemed worried about the way he had just fallen over. "But you saw it, then? What are you going to be, Harry?"

"You first," Harry suggested with a grin to her.

To his surprise, she actually blushed at his suggestion and looked away. "Looks like I'm following in your footsteps, Professor," she said softly. "A cat was in front of me."

After what Hermione had said just a moment earlier, Harry decided it best to stay quiet until they were alone together. He knew that it wasn't just a cat - it looked far to much like Crookshanks to be 'just a cat,' after all. "Congratulations, 'Mione," Harry said with a half forced smile. He was proud, but surprised that she didn't pick up on what he had. "I think it fits you."

"Thanks," she whispered before looking back to him harshly after a long silence. "Well?"

"Well what?" Harry asked, pretending that he didn't know what she was talking about.

"I believe Hermione wishes to know what form you will be taking, Harry," McGonagall explained. "As do I, actually."

Harry nodded and took a deep breath. "I think I'm a leopard, actually," Harry replied after a moment. "That's what it looked like to me, anyway."

"Very good, very good indeed," McGonagall said with a small smile to both of them. "Fine choices. You will do well. Get a good night's sleep tonight, and tomorrow, we will see about first time transformations."

"Isn't tomorrow Christmas, Professor?" Harry pointed out.

"We aren't doing anything until New Year's, Harry, remember?" Hermione asked, nudging him before putting an arm around his waist. "So no rest for the weary, I'm afraid."

"I'm still giving you something tomorrow," he promised her.

--------------------

Night had properly fallen in London, and particularly in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Everyone who was staying the night was in bed and all the lights were off save what was given off by the fires that were crackling under their own will.

Harry Potter, however, was not sleeping. Nor, he was sure, was the beautiful witch in his arms that was lying with him. Sure, he knew she was trying to sleep, or perhaps only pretending for his own benefit, but even after sleeping together for only two nights now, he could tell when she was faking it and when she wasn't.

"You aren't sleeping, are you?" Harry whispered after finally summoning his Gryffindor courage and giving her a light squeeze. "What's wrong?"

Hermione didn't respond right away, though she did look up to him slowly, her eyes large and dark in the quiet solitude of their room. Together with her bushy brown hair, Harry found himself thinking of a cute little bear cub as he looked down to her.

"Something doesn't make sense, that's all," she whispered. "But why aren't you sleeping yet, Harry? Aren't you tired?"

"You bet I am," Harry said with a grin as a yawn half interrupted his voice. "But I can't very well fall asleep right now if you need me, now can I?"

Hermione squeezed him a little tighter and seemed to try to burrow a little deeper into his chest as she did so. "It's comments like that that make you so special, you know?" she whispered. When he didn't reply, she looked up to him again. "Would you think it odd if I told you that I saw something impossible earlier?"

"You're turning into a kneazle, not a cat!" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself. When her eyes went even wider in surprise, Harry closed his firmly, not wanting to see her reaction to his bold statement. Her words had reminded him, but he couldn't take them back now.

"You could see, too?" she asked in surprise.

"What do you mean, 'too?'" Harry asked, opening his eyes slowly to see her smiling at him. "What, do you mean that you could see..."

"The blue wings?" Hermione whispered. Harry didn't know what to say, but fortunately Hermione kept going. "I don't know what they mean, Harry. I've never heard of an animal like that. Maybe the elves know something, or even Rozan. But a leopard with wings?"

"Lyra," Harry said without thinking.

"Lyra?" Hermione asked in amazement.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know where that came from, actually," he admitted. "But that's what it's called. I know that much, anyway."

To his surprise, Hermione didn't seem skeptical at the news that the name of the creature suddenly came to him, even though he didn't have the faintest idea of just what a lyra really was. "Well, during one of our breaks tomorrow, we'll have to look through our book from Care of Magical Creatures, won't we?" she suggested. "Maybe it is in it, and we can figure out just what all this means." She fell silent for a moment, and Harry could make out the fact that she was biting her lower lip as she tilted her head down a little, and knew she was thinking about something still. He didn't have to prompt her, though. "Do you think Ron and Ginny have really forgiven us?"

"For what?" Harry asked bitterly. "For trying to enjoy life?" He felt Hermione stiffen a little in his arms, and he sighed. "Sorry, 'Mione, but it really upset me how they reacted. You know that. But if they have come around... it'll be alright. Everything will go back to normal. Or at least, as normal as things get around me." When he felt her molding into him again, he tightened his grip around her and felt her shudder a yawn. "Now, no talking. Time sleep now."

"Yes Grawp," Hermione smiled, closing her eyes and letting her dreams keep her in Harry's arms.

--------------------

It was midmorning, and Harry had yet to decide which was a better treat - waking up with Hermione still in his arms, or Professor McGonagall letting them go without training that morning. Yes, it was Christmas morning, but it somehow didn't feel like to Harry.

Part of this was because ever since he had been brought back to the wizarding world, Christmas was always a time when he was surrounded by friends - even if it was only Ron and Hermione. Today, however, had been very odd thus far, mostly because of Hermione's obvious absence.

When Harry asked her parents about where she was, they were surprisingly tight lipped with their answers, too. She had gotten up so quickly that morning, he hadn't had a chance to ask what her plans for the day were aside from training, and he was quickly finding that his house was much larger on the inside than he had first assumed, even after the time he had spent there last year.

As he was climbing up the stairs after checking the kitchen again, movement behind him called him to a stop. He turned at the sound of his voice being called, and found himself face to face with one he hadn't expected to see again until the school year had started.

The Wanderer was holding out his hands to Harry, and had a small package in either hand. When he made no other movement, Harry descended the stairs again and took both of the oddly wrapped items carefully, but didn't take his eyes off the elf, who had his hood down.

"I believe you will both find those quite useful," Talisien said calmly. "And after Ali suggested it, I thought it prudent to give them to you in person. I have long since learned not to ignore her advice. I decided that since this day holds value to humans, it would be a good day to gift them to you."

Harry filed that information away as he shook his head. "Thanks and all," he said quickly. "But do you know where Hermione is? She took off this morning, and I know she's somewhere in the house, but I haven't been able to find her..."

Harry trailed off as the Wanderer turned and vanished almost instantly. Before he could even try to follow after him, he found Hermione standing just behind where the elf had been, smiling a little shyly to him.

"Sorry, Harry," she said softly. "But I had something to do this morning before I could really spend much time with you," she explained, taking her hands out from behind her back to reveal a small package wrapped in gold paper. "Can we go to our room?"

'Our room?' Harry thought with a little thrill shooting up his spine. Rather than trust his voice, he simply nodded and climbed the stairs again. Once at the door, he held it open and ushered Hermione inside before closing the door again and sealing it with one of the locking charms that Remus had ended up teaching him in the end.

"Find anything out about lyras, Harry?" Hermione asked as she settled herself onto his bed. "I mean, I know that you checked the library for me - I'm sure that was one of the first places you looked, actually - but did you actually do any reading while you were there?"

Harry looked at her blankly for a minute before answering. "There's a library in my house?" It always amazed him how Hermione seemed to know more about his own home than he did. "Well, I guess there is, obviously, but where is it?" He sat down on the bed next to Hermione and shook his head before she could answer. "Never mind. Tell me later," he whispered. "I didn't get to wish you good morning today, either..."

To his surprise, Hermione pulled back after a quick kiss on the lips and smiled nervously to him. "Later, okay?" she whispered. "First, I've got something to give you before I lose my nerve."

Harry set the two packages from the Wanderer down on the floor and stood up from the bed quickly to pull out his gift to Hermione from the desk in the room. He had left it wrapped in the red and white cloth, but there was no time left to wrap it properly anyway.

"I've got something for you now, too."

He gave her his gift as she gave him his, but saw right away that she barely even noticed that he had given her anything. Whatever was in the small box had her on edge, so he turned his attention to it instead of her face - and more importantly her expressive eyes and lush lips.

He ripped the paper from the box in one quick movement, and found himself holding a wooden box that seemed to have been carved from a single block of wood. It reminded him of a brief instant of the gift that he had received from Kailyn for his birthday, for it had been in a similar type of box. Lifting the lid carefully, he took out a golden chain that had a small medallion on the end.

The medallion seemed to be made of gold as well, and looked almost as old as the necklace that he had seen Fey wearing in Diagon Alley before school started. It was about the size of a walnut, though it was flat, and had - interestingly enough - a lightning bolt engraved upon the otherwise smooth surface.

After getting over his initial surprise, he held it out to Hermione slowly. She looked into his eyes for a moment until she understood what he was asking, and set the gift from him aside as she took the chain. Undoing the clasp, she reached around his neck and did it up again carefully, letting the weight of the medallion itself fall to his chest to rest just below his collarbone as she gave him a quick kiss on the nose.

He didn't have to ask what the medallion was for... the look in her eyes and the way she was acting told him more than enough.

"My parents promised," she whispered into the silence before Harry's body took over on instinct and pulled her to him, up into his lap as he held her as close as possible. She turned her head to meet his lips and found herself pulled into a kiss more passionate and desperate than she had ever even dreamed about.

Sometime between when their mouths parted to allow each other access and Hermione closing her eyes to reveal in the sensations, they ended up lying down on the bed with Harry underneath Hermione, both her hands on his chest as his hands seemed to fly up and down her back driving her wild, making her kiss him even more fiercely.

She started at the feeling of his hands against her bare back as her blue tank top was pushed up just a little, and moaned as he pulled her down a little closer. She felt that if they were any closer together they would be one person, and that made her blush and pull away just a little to look into his eyes.

Slowly, she moved one of his hands from the small on her back around to her stomach and held it there for a moment. It was on the outside of her shirt again, but she didn't care. As she stared into his wonderful ocean eyes - both for their sea green and the emotions that were pouring from them - she moved his hand up slowly.

She gasped as his fingers ran along the nipple of her left breast, and felt him pull away just a little before she pushed into him, trying without saying anything to keep him there. He seemed to get the message as she leaned in to kiss him again, since he started to caress her breast through the fabric of her shirt and bra, causing her to moan into his mouth.

Neither had any idea how long they stayed like that, but all of a sudden Harry pulled his hand away from her breast and returned it to her back. During their passion, he had switched breasts once as he switched the positions of his hands, and she held her breath, assuming he was just doing the same thing until he simply held her close, causing her to collapse on top of him, breathing heavily.

"We have to stop," Harry whispered into her ear, having turned her head just enough to prevent them from kissing again right away. "Your parents will be wondering where we are soon, I still have a gift I want to give you, and if we don't stop now, I don't think I'm going to want to stop."

"That's a change from two days ago, isn't it?" Hermione whispered back, shivering at the feel of his breath on her neck and ear. "You said then that..."

"I know," he cut her off. "And I stand by that," he added. "But if we keep going now, I don't know if I'll be able to hold back... even though I want to."

"You are amazing, you know that, Mr. Potter?" Hermione said with a smile as she propped herself up on her elbows. "Most wizards your age - scratch that, most boys your age would give anything to be in your position with a willing female, but you're refusing to do anything, even though I'd let you."

"I'm not most wizards, 'Mione," Harry whispered in return as he gently pushed her up. Getting the message, she moved off him slowly and helped him up too so they were both sitting down on the bed again. "I would have thought you'd know that by now," he added with a grin.

They stayed silent for a moment before Hermione looked back to Harry again. "I take it you liked your first present, did you?" she asked carefully. Although she understood the elven vows, it didn't mean she wasn't nervous about them now that they had started. She knew how important Harry felt them to be, and didn't want to mess them up by mistake.

"I love it," Harry replied, fingering the metal carefully as he turned the medallion over a few times before letting it fall to the chain again. "Only one vow left, now," he added. "And it's basically engagement then."

Hermione didn't reply, but instead picked up the cloth wrapped gift from Harry. "So, what's in here?" she asked, trying to guess through the fabric. It wasn't a light object, but it wasn't too heavy, either. She knew for certain that it was a hard object, but the fabric was so thick that it concealed it otherwise.

"Open it and find out," Harry suggested gently as he tucked a stray strand of her brown hair back over her ear and out of her face.

She blushed at how gentle he was being before turning back to the task at hand and removing the fabric. She could practically feel the effects of time on the cloth, and knew that it was centuries old, yet still holding together. Although she was curious where he had come across such an old object, she said nothing until she withdrew the dagger from the cloth, looking at it in the simple brown leather sheath it had come in.

Although the pommel was golden with an odd marking upon it, the hilt itself was rather simple as well, and the grip was wrapped in black leather. She pulled it slightly from the sheath and stopped the moment it started to come free from it.

The blade seemed to be glowing white. Looked up to Harry, she found that he seemed to have a glow around him, too, though to say just what colour would have been impossible - he seemed to either have a glow that was an absence of all colours or a mixture of them all. Even though she knew it was a paradox, she couldn't explain it any other way.

Looking to herself, she found a white and blue glow - just like she had when she had looked at herself through her magics' eye as Fey had suggested during her detention earlier in the year.

If she focused a little, she could still see everything around her, but also saw the magics that were flowing around and through things. It was as though she could see both with her magics' eye and her normal vision at the same time.

The moment she returned the blade to the sheath entirely, the extra energy vanished and her normal vision returned completely. She could only look to the weapon in surprise - a dagger that could reveal all magics around her was invaluable. She knew Harry had a good deal of galleons in his Gringotts account, but she doubted it was enough for this!

"It's so you can take part in my lessons with Kailyn," Harry explained when she looked up to him. "I figured that you wouldn't just want to sit and watch, and now you can take part, too. Great, right?"

A little voice was nagging Hermione, and she looked back down to the dagger. "Is there anything special about mine?" she asked quietly.

"You mean like there is with the Oakrium?" Harry asked with a smile as he patted the dagger at his own side. The blade on his weapon was much longer than that of Hermione's new one, but they were both still daggers. "I don't think so. I got it from Fey, who said it would be excellent for you to train with," he explained. "Why?"

"Just curious," Hermione replied. Before she could say anything else, there was a knock on their door, followed swiftly by a few muffled curses and then an Alohomora spell. When the door still didn't open, Harry got up and muttered something under his breath as he pulled it open to find Professor McGonagall on the other side, flanked by both Hermione's parents - she figured that her dad had been the one who had cursed.

Hermione wasn't sure how she did it, but somehow she managed to keep a straight face, even though Harry had cracked up the moment he had laid eyes on their Professor. She was wearing a large red hat with white trim and a white pompom on the end rather than her usual black pointed hat.

She also looked a little affronted at Harry's laughter, and turned to Hermione instead. "Once you have both donned your gifts from Talisien, I would like you downstairs in the study for some training. Today - with a little luck - you should be able to transform for the first time."

"Gifts from Talisien?" Harry asked in surprise, looking back to the small packages. "What did he give us? And how do you know about them?"

"He asked me to ensure that you knew they were not against the regulations of the school," she replied with a small smile. "We do wear school robes, after all."

Hermione had already bent down to pick up the package with her name written on it, and passed the other one to Harry. They both removed the leaf wrappers and found themselves hold a very thin piece of green fabric. Letting it unfurl completely, they found that they were holding cloaks.

Before either really took a chance to look at them, Harry swung his around and did it up around his shoulders. Although the fabric seemed very light, he could feel the weight of it on his back and knew that it was very strong material. The hood seemed to have gone up of its own accord, and he pushed it down at once to free his head before looking down at himself.

This meant that he missed Hermione putting on her cloak, too. She felt much better wearing it suddenly, as it let her hide what clothes she was wearing, making her feel a little more at home in the wizarding household where no one aside from herself - at least, no non-muggles - were wearing anything but robes.

Both nodded to one another and followed their Professor downstairs and back to the study where they had been training thus far. Hermione paused briefly to give her mother a quick hug and her father a kiss on the cheek before running to catch up.

Both parents exchanged a slow look to one another, smiled, and went downstairs to the kitchen to help prepare a dinner for later on in the day.

"Professor..." Harry started once she had closed the door behind Hermione. "I've got a quick question before we begin today, if that's alright."

"It will be, Harry, but as I said yesterday, if I am calling you by your names, you might as well return the favour," she suggested, flicking the tip of her hat out of her sight again. She wasn't sure why she had agreed to wear it in the first place, but Mike had been quite insistent.

"Are magical creatures possible through animagus training?"

His question seemed to have caught her off guard, but she smiled and nodded slowly. "They are possible, but rather rare. Why, I remember when I was training... years ago now, I suppose, one of my best friends took on a magical form," she explained. "A very dangerous form at that, but it was very magical as well. He can become a lethifold."

"No!" Hermione blurted out before she could stop herself. "A creature of shadows like that? I thought animagus were rather restricted to safer forms," she said a bit calmer, trying to hide her embarrassment at having shouted out.

"There is record of a single basilisk animagus in the past, Hermione," McGonagall reminded her. "As I'm sure you are aware if you think for a moment about the registered witches and wizards." Hermione flushed under the veiled compliment, but didn't say anything. "Why do you ask, Harry?"

"Because I think Hermione's a kneazle, not a cat," he explained. "And I don't know what the ruddy hell I am."

"Harry!" Hermione said loudly in shock. Swearing at a teacher, especially one that was taking their time to teach them extra activities...

"Can you describe it?" McGonagall didn't seem fazed at all by either outburst.

"I think I'm a lyra," Harry replied easily. "At least, that's the name that comes to me. The animal looks like a leopard to me, but it also has blue transparent wings at the same time, and I know leopards don't have those, right Minerva?"

McGonagall remained silent for a few minutes, as though lost in thought, and then she shook her head. "We shall see," she declared. "Now, relaxation, and we will begin."

After the hour long relaxation exercise was over and she had clapped her hands, both students stood from the ground again. Surprisingly, their cloaks didn't seem to get in the way of sitting or standing, as though they were practically alive themselves.

"Now that I have shown you how to change your size and how to make your animal appear before you, it is time to try and put the two steps together," McGonagall explained slowly. "This is the most draining step of all, and very difficult to perform. Your mind must be relaxed and ready for the first several times, until the form is locked into your core's memory, at which point it will be a second nature affair."

"Do you really think we can do it this early?" Hermione asked, obviously excited. "I mean, I think it's a great idea, but no one in recorded history has ever done it so quickly. They spend weeks at a time adjusting their size and then months to get their animals to appear before them, right?"

"You are two very talents individuals, Hermione," she replied. "And, unlike with many who learn, you have a competent teacher showing you the steps and pushing you to succeed. Not only that, but time is of the essence, remember?"

"More than competent," Harry corrected her, earning them both a small smile. "And I'm not fishing, Prof... er... Minerva. I mean it. Who else could teach Neville to transfigure a needle into a matchstick in his first year?"

After receiving the nod from McGonagall, Hermione closed her eyes and her entire body started to glow softly. The jewelry that she wore seemed to sparkle under the soft, warm light, making it that much more obvious, and the dagger seemed to positively pulse under the energy itself.

Harry would later swear that he had only blinked before Hermione vanished from in front of him to be replaced by a proud looking cat like creature on the ground. She had brown fur, a bushy brown lion tail with a triangular end, and a somewhat squashed looking face, but her eyes...

Harry got on all fours to look into Hermione's kneazle formed eyes, and found the brilliant warm brown looking back to him. Even if she was in a different form, her eyes were the same.

He must have blinked again, because Hermione was suddenly sprawled on the floor breathing very heavily, as though she had just run several miles and moved eight or nine pianos up and down a flight of stairs. She was smiling, though, and their Professor actually clapped for her.

"Well done, Hermione, well done," she applauded her. "I know you are tired now, but it was the first time, after all. Once your mind is calm enough to assume the form easily, you will no longer have any difficulty, and the glow will stop as well."

From the pointed look she was giving Harry, he knew it was time for him to try. Sparing a quick glance to Hermione to make sure she was still recovering, he finally closed his eyes and willed his mind to a blank. He found this quite hard to do with how much Hermione seemed to be suffering.

Eventually, he found himself starting to glow as she had done, and then his world shifted perspectives. In the place where Harry Potter had been standing now stood a leopard four feet tall at the shoulders with grey fur and black splotches covering his body. The eyes of the leopard stayed the same piercing green that Harry's were, but then no one was watching his eyes any longer as the leopard's back arched suddenly.

From his back, two great glowing translucent blue wings rose up and beat once. Then twice. Both McGonagall and Hermione looked on in amazement as the wings seemed to pass through the chair and couch in the room as though they weren't even there, and then Harry actually lifted off the ground by several inches.

Then, as suddenly as it had all started, he had reverted to human and came crashing down to all fours on the ground. He was breathing very heavily, and looked up slowly as Hermione rushed over to make sure he hadn't hurt himself.

"That was very effective, both of you," McGonagall said with a larger smile than either had seen from their Head of House in six years. "Well done. Now, I won't ask for any more from you until after we have eaten. If you need to take some time, now would be a good time," she added.

Hermione nodded to her as she left, and then she looked back to Harry. "I've got to go to the loo," she announced. "I'll catch up with you later, alright?"

"I'm just going to go speak to Buckbeak for a while," Harry replied with a nod. "I'll meet you in the kitchen later?"

Hermione nodded and then leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the lips before pulling away again. "I'll never get tired of doing that," she whispered as she left.

Harry smiled and nodded, his breathing returning to normal slowly. "And I'll never get tired of letting you," he whispered to the empty study.

It took Harry more time than he would later admit to actually get to his feet once he was alone, but once he was up he just continued until he was sitting in the upstairs room that was almost an attic. This room held a bundle of hay in one corner, a pile of dead rats in another, and a very large hippogryff in the middle of the room who seemed rather pleased to see Harry.

-Hello, Buckbeak,- Harry said as he bowed to the creature in the centre of the room. -I hope everyone is treating you well.-

-They are, Harry. Don't worry.-

It was perhaps the greatest sign of his lack of energy that he barely noticed that Buckbeak had actually answered him. -I just thought I'd come up to make sure you weren't too lonely. I know Sirius used to spend a lot of time with you, but...-

-Sirius is no longer among us,- Buckbeak finished for him.

-Right.- A soft silence fell between the two very different creatures - human and hippogryff - before Harry met Buckbeak's eye again. -I miss him a lot today, you know.-

-I would expect so. I understand from Crookshanks that today is a special day for humans, right?-

-It is Christmas Day,- Harry confirmed. -And please remind me to thank Crookshanks for keeping you company the next time I see him.-

-He usually comes by shortly.-

The two continued in silence until the door was inched open and the orange half kneazle slipped inside. It was at that point that Harry looked back up to Buckbeak slowly. -Buckbeak?-

-Yes, Harry?-

-Why can I talk to you suddenly? Why can I understand you?-

-I don't know, Harry.-

-Oh.- Harry looked slowly away from the magnificent creature and down to Crookshanks who was currently trying to climb into his lap - a rather unusual show of affection to someone who wasn't Hermione. -And you? Can you understand me, too?-

-Of course I can, Harry. I'm not stupid you know.-

-I would never assume that you were.-

-You've called me stupid before. You and Red both have.-

-Red?- Harry asked aloud, though he knew that the creature was referring to Ron. Before the bundle on fur in his lap could reply, Harry sighed and shook his head. -I know who you mean. Sorry about all that. You were sort of bothersome and all, but surely you've heard other humans call each other stupid and know that they don't mean it, too, right?-

-Indeed.- Crookshanks looked up to him, and Harry was more than a little confused by this point. -I know you aren't lying, so I understand what you mean. Still, thank you for the apology.-

-My pleasure. Do you know where Hermione is?-

-She is in your room changing,- Crookshanks replied. -She moved some clothes from her trunk into your dresser while you were up here talking with Beaky.-

-You don't mind the name Beaky?- Harry asked, looking up to the flying mixed creature beside him.

-Hagrid was very good to me, Harry. I would never object to a name from him.-

-I like the name you use for Mia, Harry,- Crookshanks offered suddenly. -Mione sounds so endearing. It was a good choice. She likes it when you call her that, too. She told me as much.-

Harry nodded and scooted the animal out of his lap as he stood up. He bent to wipe the dust and hay off his new green black cloak, but found it still clean. -Well, I think I'm going to talk to Mione for a bit. You two alright here?-

-Of course we are.- Both creatures looked to him carefully, and then Buckbeak bowed to him. -But thank you for your concern.-

Harry closed the door behind him carefully, but then thought better of it and left it open just a little so Crookshanks could leave when he wanted to later on. Descending the stairs to the second floor, he went down the hall and knocked on the door to his room.

Hermione opened it almost at once, and smiled to him. -You never have to knock to get into your own room, Harry,- she said in a soft voice. The smile vanished from her face when she saw the serious expression on his. -What's wrong?-

Harry took a deep breath before replying. -Did you ever tell Crookshanks that you like it when I call you Mione?-

His question seemed to startled Hermione, who just looked at him in surprise before catching herself. -How did you know that?- she asked in a whisper. -Did you hear me telling him?–

-No, he just told me,- Harry said with a shrug as he sat down on his bed. -After I had a lovely conversation with Buckbeak - who likes the name Beaky, by the way, because of Hagrid - Crookshanks offered that information. He also said that you had moved some of the clothes from your trunk into my dresser, he added with a grin to her.-

-You are going to have to explain yourself better than that, you know, Mr. Potter,- Hermione said with an odd expression on her face. -I mean, I know you can talk with snakes, that's parseltongue for you. But talking with a hippogryff and a kneazle or cat, that's something else entirely.-

-It doesn't make much sense to me, either. I do have a thought, though, one that I'll be asking Professor McGonagall about later,- he admitted. -Probably tomorrow, because I think tonight I'll be too tired to understand her answer. You know, I was talking to Buckbeak for almost ten minutes before I realised how odd that was?-

-Oh, she said that after supper we should probably just get to bed,- Hermione corrected him. -She saw how tired I was in the kitchen earlier as I tried to get a glass of water. She had to pour it for me, can you imagine?-

-You're... you are staying with me tonight, aren't you?-

Hermione smiled as she put her arms around Harry's neck. –Voldemort himself couldn't take me from your side, she promised him as she opened the door and lead him downstairs to eat.-

If anyone had been sitting outside the door listening in, all they would have heard were several different hisses, growls, and a few mews and purrs, none of which could be explained by the two that left the room. Once downstairs with the others, only normal speech was heard when either spoke - though it wasn't very common anyway, given how tired they both were.

Two more purrs would have been heard as Harry wrapped his arms around his witch as they laid down on their bed together after he pulled up their blanket. -Sleep well, Mione.-

-You too.-

--------------------

He knew his good mood wouldn't last. At least, he should have known. His Christmas vacation had started out horrible with the news of the attacks from Voldemort's Death Eaters, but then had drastically improved. But nothing good had ever lasted for very long with Harry - except Hermione, of course.

These thoughts weren't on his mind when he woke up with said witch in his arms, of course. After giving her a proper good morning greeting which he had failed to do for the last couple of days thanks to either interruptions or her taking off early, they both got up and Harry went to the shower first.

Once they were both ready to face the world again, aware of the fact that it was actually almost lunchtime, rather than breakfast time, they made their way downstairs. It was only when Harry pushed the door open to the kitchen that he knew the good times had come crashing to an end.

"So good of you to join us at last, Potter," Professor Snape said from his chair at the end of the table. Next to him sat McGonagall, as well as both of Hermione's parents. "I have given my report already, and now I will be off," he said, standing swiftly and walking passed the two who were still standing in the doorway.

Harry turned as he passed and found the Potions' Master to have stopped at the door, and was currently looking at Hermione. "I thought you were leaving," Harry pointed out in a cold voice.

"I just want to warn you, Miss Granger, that pregnancy is no excuse for missing my classes. I never made an exception for anyone in even my own house for such a thing, and there is no way that I would ever make it for a know-it-all mudblood Gryffindor."

Several things happened all at once as soon as the words left his mouth. Hermione staggered backwards in surprise at his words, for she had never heard any teacher use the foul term before, but that was the least of the things that happened.

Jane and Mike Granger both cried out in surprise as the pitchers of water and pumpkin juice on the table suddenly shattered, along with every glass that was in the cupboards and the windows themselves. Professor McGonagall stood quickly to try and stop whatever was happening from happening, but then the fire in the fireplace roared, shooting out flames to a dangerous height.

The chairs closest to Harry and Hermione were warped out of shape, and Snape was plastered against the wall next to the door as the table started to inch backwards, only held in place by a determined professor of transfiguration and both of Hermione's parents, who had no idea what was going on. McGonagall tried to walk towards Harry, who had his head down and was taking deep breaths, but otherwise was not moving, and found some invisible barrier pushing her backwards suddenly.

"Get out," Harry's voice suddenly sounded through the rush of wind that had abruptly started in the large kitchen, carrying his words and whipping them around dangerously. "Get out of my house, and never come back." His voice held so much anger and sounded so dangerous that no one could find any response to what he was saying. Harry looked up slowly at Snape, who was still frozen against the wall, and a feral growl escaped his lips. "Now!"

Somehow, Snape managed to pull himself from the wall and found himself thrown from the room by the invisible barrier that seemed to be pulsing from Harry. Once he was gone, Hermione and McGonagall both turned to Harry swiftly, though the professor had come no closer to him yet.

Hermione set a hand on Harry's arm to try and calm him down, and he looked to her sharply, meeting her warm eyes in an attempt to pacify his anger as he had so often in the past. Her gaze always calmed him down, and he knew that he needed it desperately this time.

The moment their eyes locked together, though, Harry was no longer seeing the girl by his side, or any of the other activity in the room. He was not aware of the door crashing open as Dumbledore rushed into the kitchen, nor was he aware of the fact that both Remus and Bill Weasley followed closely behind him.

All he was aware of -without any warning - was several images that flashed through his mind. It took him a moment to recognise the experience, during which time he saw several things.

Hermione, dressed in a brown shirt and blue overalls, looking about five as she was picked up from primary school by her father. None of the other kids were talking to her, but her father hugged her and picked her up to give her a piggy back ride home.

Hermione again, older this time, dressed in a simple skirt and blouse combination with a red tie - the senior uniform at primary school. She was with both her parents this time, talking about the wonderful time she had had with them in the school library.

Another scene with Hermione, this time she was looking down at a letter. Harry knew at once that it was her Hogwarts acceptance letter, and he saw her talking with her parents about it. They were reassuring her that she would have no trouble making friends at her new school.

He saw one more scene before recognising what was going on and trying as hard as he could to put a stop to it. Hermione, looking like she had a couple of days ago, talking to her mother in his room. He was sure, somehow, that they had been talking for a few minutes already, but he heard her mother ask her why she wanted to stay in the same bed as him. His concentration at the task at hand faltered at her eventual response just before he had managed to pull out of her memories.

"Because I love him."

Without warning, Harry suddenly heard Hermione's scream of either terror or pain - he wasn't sure which - and all the rest of the noise in the room. He had managed to force himself out of her mind, though his momentary lapse in concentration had not helped much. It had been much harder than he had expected, and when he tried to say something to her, anything to try and apologise for what had happened, no words came out of his mouth.

Instead, a low gurgling sound rushed forth as blackness took him. He was only vaguely aware of the fact that Hermione had moved to catch him before he knew nothing else.

------------------

Once Dumbledore had ensured that Harry was resting in his bed properly, her left Hermione with her parents upstairs and returned to Minerva, Bill, and Remus, who had stayed downstairs to wait for him.

"What happened, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know," she admitted softly. "All I know is that when Severus said something to Hermione as he was leaving, power suddenly burst from Harry. It was all I could do not to shout in surprise - I have never felt such strong accidental magic before, Albus."

"What Snape was saying is true, then?" Bill asked in surprise. "That Harry attacked him?"

"If Harry attacked Snape, then I'm sure he deserved it!" Remus said strongly. "I don't believe that he would have done so without valid reason." He paused and looked at each of the others in the room, his eyes resting on Bill. "No one aside from those in this house is to know, you understand?" he said softly. "But Harry and Hermione are very close. She is staying in the same bed as him these days - though I know that nothing has happened between them like that, Bill."

"I didn't say anything!" Bill objected.

"You're a Weasley, you didn't have to," Remus said with a grin, pointing out how much the eldest child was blushing at the thought of what had happened. All the Weasleys turned red for the simplest of reasons. "If Harry attacked Snape, then he must have said something against Hermione."

"The power that Harry let out earlier is beyond anything I have seen before, Albus," Minerva explained quietly. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like that!"

"The way you're describing it, I think I've seen it once," Bill said softly. "When one of my buddies got hit by a powerful curse he failed to deactivate. Power burst from him like some sort of bomb," he explained, even though he wasn't sure if everyone present would understand the analogy. "It was enough to knock us off our feet, but nothing more than that. The power tore him apart, though. Took weeks to gather enough for the funeral."

The others in the room looked surprised by the story, but Remus was the first to speak. "But Harry did it of his own accord," he pointed out. "And he seems fine now. A little tired, but otherwise, he wasn't too bad off, right, Albus?"

"Indeed. Exhaustion was the only fault," Dumbledore said with a nod. "Though what happened afterwards seems almost more upsetting. It seems he scanned Miss Granger's mind by mistake while trying to calm himself down once Professor Snape had left."

"He always does that," McGonagall pointed out. "Well, not scan her mind, i'm sure, but every time he's stressed out or worried - in class or out - he seems to look to her for support, and always seems better for it after. I would have objected to his actions in class if it didn't seem to actually let him concentrate better and actually pay attention."

"Has he done it recently?" Dumbledore asked after a moment of thought.

McGonagall paused for a moment before answering. "Not really... not since that whole Ministry incident, now that I consider it. Even after the attacks, he seemed too upset to listen to her, let alone look her in the eye to..." She trailed off and looked to the Headmaster in surprise.

"I believe so, Minerva. At least, it is how it appears at the moment."

----------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	22. Road to Recovery

Chapter Twenty Two: Road to Recovery 

Mike Granger was beyond confused. He paced back and forth in his room three more times before finally sitting down next to Hermione on the bed that was hers - though she hadn't slept in it for several days running now.

"So, he scanned your memories, and you're worried about what he might have seen?" he asked, finally breaking the long silence that had started when her tears had stopped.

"No, daddy," Hermione whispered. "He didn't scan my memories, I opened them to him by mistake." Trying to get her father to understand the complex magics of legilimency and occlumency was a near impossible task to be sure. "I was trying to calm him down, like I have in the past, but something snapped and I couldn't stop my mind from showing him..."

"Fine, fine," Mike interrupted his daughter gently. "He saw your memories. Can we leave it at that for now?" When she nodded hesitantly, he smiled softly to her. "And you are worried about what he saw, right?" Again, she nodded, but didn't say anything. "Well, babe, why don't you just ask him when he wakes up?"

Hermione looked up to her father slowly, blinking away the remnants of the tears in her eyes. "How could I do that?" she asked quietly. "What if he saw what I think he did? How will he react to that? Will he even tell me what he saw?"

"Mia, babe," Mike said softly, causing her to stop and just look at him blankly. "Do you trust this boy who you are spending your nights and days with? You are practically breathing the same air as him at almost all times... so do you trust him?"

"Harry would never betray his friends or his family," Hermione said instantly, coming to Harry's defense even though, in this case, it wasn't needed. "That's one of the best things about him, really. If I ever had to go into hiding with the Fideulus Charm, then I'd want him to be my secret keeper," she added.

"Fideulus Charm?"

Hermione took a deep breath and counted to three carefully. What she really needed was someone who understood about magic, not her father who, though he cared a lot, didn't have the first clue about it. "It's a charm to hide someone, so that no one can ever find them unless the secret keeper reveals the information." She paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "On second thought, I wouldn't want Harry as my secret keeper. I'd want him in hiding with me."

"So you do trust him, then?"

Hermione met her father's eyes steadily and nodded. "With my life."

"Then I see no problem," he said with a shrug as he stood up. "If you trust him so much, why do you think he wouldn't tell you everything that he saw if you ask him?"

"How would you ask someone about seeing your most intimate memories, daddy?"

"I'd ask them what they saw in my mind," he said simply with another shrug. "I don't see the problem, babe. You trust him... and it's obvious that he trusts you. I don't understand everything that happened earlier - especially with whatever Harry did to that professor of yours - but I know that you trust each other more than anything. So just talk to him when he wakes up."

On second thought, her daddy was just the person Hermione found that she wanted to talk to, even if he was as clueless as most muggles when it came to magic. He just knew how to handle people.

"So what did happen earlier?" Mike asked from the doorway. "With that professor and Harry's... outburst?"

"Snape said something to me about not accepting any public displays of affection at school, and how he would be waiting to dock fifty house points each time he saw us," Hermione explained. "It caught me off guard, but I guess it really upset Harry."

"I thought you told me earlier that Harry didn't really care about house points with how often he ends up breaking the rules, right?"

Hermione frowned as she thought about that. It was true - though Harry did like Gryffindor winning the House Cup, he had never been one to care too much about points being awarded or taken by their Potion's Master.

"I'll ask him about that, too, daddy."  
--------------------  
The first thing that he saw when he opened his eyes were grey eyes looking back at him. It took several long seconds and a few deep breaths before Harry realised that the eyes didn't belong to a human - the smell of Rozan was rather peculiar, after all. Harry tried to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was a groan.

_It is good to see you have regained some of your strength, Harry._ Harry blinked several times and managed to pull himself up from the bed to be sitting before the blue grey time wolf in his room. He looked around slowly to try and figure out just what had happened, and then a rush of images struck him from what he could remember. _You have been through an interesting day, haven't you?_

-Must you sound so bloody smug all the time?- Harry growled before he could stop himself. Although he didn't understand how he was talking to an animal in the animal's own language, he found that he didn't care right then if it let him talk in general. -Seriously, you sound like you knew this was going to happen!-

_I did warn the Wanderer that he should explain something of the Oakrium's powers to you before they went out of control_, Rozan's voice sounded in his mind, soothing him just a little despite himself. _It chose to protect you from mental intrusion, and as such, its powers have been steadily growing without an outlet for them._

"That burst of energy, then, that I let out at Snape?" Harry asked in surprise.

_No, the Oakrium doesn't hold destructive power like that. That was magics powered by a different source. One that I do not fully comprehend just yet,_ Rozan admitted. _However, the dagger did play a part in that episode - just not the one that you assumed._

"What did it do, then?" Harry demanded. "I don't care about the explosion of power - I'm sure I'll get yelled at for that later. The bloody git deserved it, though, for what he said."

_What did he say then, Harry?_

"You don't know?" Harry asked in surprise. "I thought you could simply read my memories to figure it out," he pointed out. "Something wrong suddenly?"

_The Oakrium has the power to block me from your mind as well,_ Rozan explained. _I can still speak with you, but if I attempted to delve any deeper into your mind, then I would be victim to a terrible shock that I could do without right now._

Harry sighed and nodded. That bit of news did a little to hearten him, though the fact that he _had_ just effectively raped Hermione's mind was more than a little unsettling. "Snape warned her that pregnancy was no excuse for his class, not even from a know-it-all mudblood like her."

_He did not say that, Harry._

"You weren't even there, Rozan!" Harry shouted back at the time wolf. "I was there, I heard him mutter to Hermione! The very fact that he would dare to..."

_Think such thoughts?_ Rozan provided for Harry when he faltered.

"He spoke them, Rozan."

_He did not, _Rozan corrected him. _Snape simply warned her against showing any sign of your relationship in his class or he would dock points. I have read as much from Hermione's mind._

"I heard what I heard," Harry said fiercely. "I couldn't have mistaken a warning about House Points for that!"

_Snape was thinking much worse than he said, Harry. He thought what you assumed he spoke._

"Are you suggesting that I read his mind without even meeting his eye?"

_The Oakrium needed an outlet for power, and it chose that time to read another's mind. His thoughts were very loud for the dagger to have picked up on it without instruction._

"So you're saying that Snape didn't..."

_That is correct._

Harry could only groan into his hands as he sank back to be lying down on his bed. "How am I going to be able to be in his class now?" he moaned. "Better yet, how am I going to be able to face anyone in this house? Especially Hermione!"

_What happened with Hermione's memories was not your fault, Harry._

"How can you say that?" Harry demanded harshly. "I'm the one who is carrying this dagger that acts on its own, right?"

_Indeed, Harry. It was trying to protect you from intrusion._

"What intrusion?" Harry shouted. "Hermione always calms me down! Just a quick look at her eyes is enough to..." he stopped shouting and took a deep breath, sitting up slowly to look at Rozan again. "Her eyes are enough to calm my very soul, Rozan. And now I've hurt her by seeing what I did. How can I ever apologise for that? How can I ever make it up to her for doing this to her?"

_I am not the one to be answering these questions, Harry,_ Rozan's voice was softer suddenly as the time wolf stood and appeared to shiver slightly before starting to fade. _The one who is is standing in your doorway._

Harry snapped his vision away from the time wolf who was vanishing to his door to find Hermione standing there, silently watching him. She looked scared - almost as scared as he felt, and didn't move from the frame even as Rozan vanished entirely.

She stood there for several minutes before Harry finally built up the nerve to beckon her inside the room. She smiled weakly to him and walked in, closing the door behind her as she took a seat on the bed next to him.

Still, neither said anything for quite some time. Harry was vaguely aware of someone knocking on the door, but he ignored it completely, just as Hermione seemed to. Finally, he closed his eyes and dipped his head down. "I'm sorry, 'Mione," he whispered. "I don't know what happened... I don't know how I did what I did... all I know is that I didn't mean to. And I'm sorry." He hesitated for a minute before opening his eyes and looking up to Hermione, finding her large chocolate eyes looking back to him. "If you want, you can look at my memories to make up for it."

Hermione shook her head almost right away. "I don't want to," she said softly. "Memories are very special, Harry. You shouldn't share them just because you feel guilty," she whispered, looking away from him. "And you shouldn't be sorry. I'm sorry enough for the both of us."

Harry tried to come up with a response for that, but found his voice caught in his throat. He didn't know what she was trying to say, but he knew that it didn't sound good. Suddenly, he was faced with the very real possibility that she wanted away from him, that she had finally decided that it was too dangerous to be close to him.

"What did you see?" Hermione whispered after a long silence.

"I'm sorry!" Harry blurted out right away. "I know it's dangerous to be near me, but I don't think I can go on without..." he trailed off as her words sunk in. "What... did I see?" he repeated softly.

She smiled weakly to him. "That's what I asked," she said. "What did you think I said?"

"I thought you were going to say that you didn't want anything to do with me anymore," Harry said softly. "And even the thought of that scares me more than anything else now."

It took no thought at all for Hermione to put her arms around Harry now. He was looking lost again - a look that she hadn't seen him with for quite some time. Even after the attack during the holidays, he still didn't look lost. The last time he was lost was after the Ministry attack.

She held him for quite sometime before finally letting go and holding him at arm's length. She smiled weakly to him again, and then opened her mouth to speak, but his fingers found her lips first, keeping her quiet.

"I... I'll try to tell you what I saw, 'Mione," Harry promised her. "But I don't know if I can tell you all of it or not. There was a lot... I'm sorry if I forget something by mistake. Only four scenes really stuck in my mind."

"Those will be enough, then," she said with a faint nod.

Harry nodded and took a deep breath, unable to meet her eye suddenly. Rather than look towards her, instead he simply closed his eyes and tried to remember every scene exactly as he had seen it.

"You were about five in the first memory," Harry offered softly. "You were wearing a rather cute pair of overalls and your dad gave you a piggy back ride when he picked you up from school. None of the other kids were playing with you, though." He looked to her slowly as he cracked his eyes open just enough to let a bit of light through, and saw a very sad look on her face. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"It wasn't your fault," Hermione reassured him. "The other kids thought I was too different, that's all. Looking back, I guess they were right, weren't they?"

"That's no reason to ignore someone," Harry said with more conviction than he meant to put into it. Another long silence fell between them before he started again. "I wouldn't have ignored you. I know what it was like." Before she could reply, he went on with the scenes. "The next memory I saw was you being picked up by your parents from the library. You were really excited by the trip, and your parents just let you talk their ears off about it."

When he looked up this time, he only saw the top of Hermione's bushy hair, as she seemed to be looking at his - their - bed. "Not many ten year olds would have enjoyed a trip to the library like I did," she whispered. "I can still remember hearing all the other kids making fun of me about it."

"It didn't stop you, did it?" Harry asked with a grin, trying to get her to look up to him. "I mean, you still spend a lot of time in the library, and you can't try and tell me you don't enjoy it."

"They called me 'book freak,' or 'paper girl,' and constantly stole my pencil case and any book that I left lying around for long. I'd always find the books easily enough - I guess that was my own accidental magic that Min - Professor McGonagall told me about when I first met her," Hermione explained softly.

"Hogwarts was different, wasn't it?" Harry pressed softly, putting a hand on her shoulder, getting her to finally look up to meet his gaze again. There were tears in her eyes, and he knew he felt his own prickling behind his eyes at such a sight. "If I knew about the way you were treated before you found out that you were a witch..." He let his threat stand unspoken, for she understood what he was saying just by the look in his ocean eyes.

Hermione found herself wondering what Harry would do to the kids their age in her neighbourhood if he ever came to visit.

"Speaking of Hogwarts..." Harry whispered. "The second last vision I had was when you received your letter. You were so happy, and your parents promised you that you would meet some good friends when you arrived."

"It took a while, didn't it?" Hermione asked with a grin, wiping her eyes on the edge of her cloak. The thin fabric that held her warmth in so effectively wicked the moisture away instantly, and felt so soft against her cheek and eyelids. "Knowing what I do now, it was all worth it, though. Being bullied as a child, the troll problem, and everything in between. It brought me so many good friends, and brought us closer together than I ever thought I would get with anyone."

"That's the 'Mione that I'm happiest seeing," Harry said with a warm smile of his own. "A smiling one. The tears just don't suit you, you know?" She sniffled a little and smiled a bit broader at him, though it did look a little forced. He pulled her into him then, to hold her for a brief moment before releasing her again. Rather than pull back, though, she just snuggled into him, and he turned with her so he was leaning against the wall with her resting against his chest.

"What was the last scene you remember?" she whispered, ignoring another knock at their door. She could have sworn she heard several alohomora spells being cast, but the door didn't open. She made a mental note to ask Harry about his locking charms later.

That thought vanished when she felt his arms stiffen a little around her at her question. "It wasn't that long ago," Harry admitted slowly. "You were in this room... with just your mother."

She pulled away a bit to look into his eyes, and saw that he was still feeling quite guilty about everything that had happened. She looked passed that for the time being, though. She had to know. "Did you hear the talk I had with my mother about you?"

"Just the ending of it," Harry admitted.

"So you heard me say..."

"Is it true?" Harry asked, cutting her off before she could say the words to his face. "Did you mean it then, or were you just trying to make sure she wouldn't object to your staying with me in here at night?"

Hermione put a hand on either of his shoulders as she turned to face him fully. "I meant every word," she promised him. She didn't have a chance to say anything else as he pulled her forcefully into his arms again. It was so sudden and so strong that she didn't have a chance of pulling away - even if she _had_ wanted to.

It took a moment or two for her to place the feeling that was coming from Harry. He wasn't just holding her, he seemed to be shaking just a little, and she wasn't sure if he was just cold or... "Are you crying?" she whispered. "Does the mere idea upset you that much?"

She felt his head shake back and forth, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he started to rock ever so gently, still holding her close to him. "No one ever said anything like that to me before," he said after she was sure he must be coming close to an end of the tears. "Never."

"I do, though, Harry," Hermione whispered, finally gathering her energy to push out of his arms enough so she could look him in the eye. "I do." She kissed him then, before he had a chance to react, and she allowed her lips and tongue to act of their own accord as she felt him react beneath her.

He somehow managed to pull away anyway before very long at all. "I never meant to hurt you, 'Mione," he said, looking her in the eye again. "Never. I just..."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Hermione leaned forward again, and stopped with her lips next to his ear. "I love you, Harry Potter," she said so softly that, even if there was someone else in the room, there was no way they could have heard her.

She felt his arms tighten around her again almost instantly, forcing her to let out the breath that she wasn't even aware she was really holding. "You mean so much to me, 'Mione. I'm so sorry I hurt you..."

She surprised even herself when she stiffened a little at his words. It wasn't that they weren't nice words to hear... but if she was completely honest with herself, she knew she was hoping to hear three different words.

Harry slowly let Hermione out of his grasp and sat looking at her for a moment. Even if he didn't know her as well as he did, it was rather obvious that she was upset about something still. If it wasn't that he had seen her memories, then what was it? He closed his eyes carefully and took a deep breath. "I want you to see some of my memories, 'Mione," he said steadily. "I need you to see some things... that I can't explain to you. Please?"

Rather than reply with words, Hermione simply looked straight into Harry's eyes. The memory of the last time any mental magics were used around him was still fresh in her mind, but she had to believe that he had some idea as to what he doing now.

Still, being sucked out from the comfortable bedroom just as a young Harry is very oversized clothes was slammed into a wall was not what she had expected. Another boy who was about Harry's age was hitting him, and she tried to reach out to stop what was happening, even though she knew it was in the past anyway.

Just as suddenly as the first scene started, it was over, and she found herself standing behind a slightly older Harry at the kitchen table. From the way his aunt and uncle were eyeing him, she suspected it was just after first year was over and he returned to them a little wiser and a little happier than he had been.

Even though there was a lot of food on the table, the miniscule amount on Harry's plate was hard to miss. Equally hard to miss were the leers from his so-called family, daring him to ask for more.

She must have blinked, because she was no longer sitting in front of the table, but was standing in the living room. A large, portly woman was standing on the other side of the room holding a glass of red wine, while both herself and Harry were in the doorway. Harry seemed to be trying to slip away.

"If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup -"

Hermione told herself again that she was just a witness to the memory, and she wasn't there at all. She had to tell herself this several times, and even though she did, she tried to wrap her arms around the younger, upset Harry next to her before the memory shifted again to show her something else.

She would have to ask him later if he was showing her specific things, or just as they came to his mind.

"By all means, continue destroying my possessions," Dumbledore's calm voice came to her ears next before anything appeared before her eyes. "I daresay I have too many." The next thing she knew was ducking as a small table flew out of nowhere towards her and shattered behind her.

She missed whatever Harry from the end of last year said to Dumbledore for the next few minutes as she stared around the office. She had been inside earlier in the year, and it hadn't looked like this. Broken chairs, books ripped apart, little metal globes shattered into thousands of pieces on the floor... there was even a ripped painting or two that she knew had been repaired since. Harry was shouting at Dumbledore still, and she was surprised to see how sad their Headmaster looked as the young wizard continued his tirade.

She tuned back into the conversation then, although she wasn't sure if it was simply because Harry had forgotten just what had been said earlier or if her own subconscious had allowed simply shut her out.

Sitting on Dumbledore's desk was his pensieve, the one that Harry had told her about earlier. She watched in awe as the figure of Professor Trelawney rose from the mist and spoke in harsh tones the words that she had memorised when Harry had finally told her the full prophecy in the beginning of December.

Somehow, hearing it from the source made it sound ten times worse.

Almost as soon as it had all started, however, Hermione found herself sitting on their bed again, tears she didn't know she was crying pouring down her face. Harry was trembling and no longer looking towards her. Carefully, as though she was afraid she might break him if she moved too quickly, Hermione Granger took Harry Potter into her arms and held him against her as they cried together over the few... the very few memories that Harry had shown her. And she knew that they hadn't even scrapped the surface... but it was enough.

No words were spoken between the two for the next couple of hours. After Harry finally shuddered his last silent sob out of his body, he looked down to the still quivering girl in his arms. Looking back up to his door, he muttered something under his breath and then started to shift them both so they were lying down.

-We'll talk more in the morning, 'Mione,- Harry purred into her ear.

-I will always love you,- Hermione mewed back before nuzzling a little closer and closing her eyes to let her body finally rest. It had been a very trying day for both of them, and they hadn't even bothered attempting any animagus training.  
---------------------  
The next morning started earlier than Harry had expected. Of course, he hadn't been expecting to be woken up by Hermione nibbling on his ear, either, but he didn't really complain about either.

-Harry?- Hermione purred softly as he was just starting to wake up. -I have a bit of a confession to make...-

He silenced her quickly with a finger against her lips, and motioned that they should sit up first. Nodding her understanding, she waited until the sleep was wiped from his eyes and he was sitting before continuing.

-What's wrong, 'Mione?-

-Remember yesterday, when you saw all my memories?- Hermione mewed so softly that Harry had to strain his ears to hear her. -I... I think that might have been my fault.-

-How so?- Harry frowned. -I mean, it was my dagger that went out of control, and I sought out your eyes, because they always seem to be able to calm me down... they are beautiful, you know...-

Hermione blushed a little as she looked away from him. -You never told me that before...- she purred. Looking back to him, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. -My eyes have calmed you down this year because I've been doing that to you.-

-What?-

-I've been performing basic legilimency against you Harry, to take some of your anger into myself so you don't experience it. I'm a little better at handling anger than you, and I thought...- she trailed off, not telling him just what she had thought.

Harry took a deep breath before nudging her chin with a finger to make her look to him again. -Are you okay?-

-Am I okay?- she growled back. -I should be asking you that! I invaded your mind countless times this year, just to...-

-Try and help?- Harry provided when she faltered. -But you said you were taking my anger into yourself...-

-Oh, that,- Hermione laughed. -I just focuses it into my essays. You should have seen Minerva's face when I handed her our last essay on the difficulties of vertebrates. Twelve scrolls long, that one.-

-Wasn't it supposed to be three?- Harry asked with a smile. Hermione nodded a little bashfully, and Harry couldn't help but laugh as well. -I don't mind, 'Mione.-

-You don't?-

Harry shook his head. -I just think you should wait to do it again until I've had a chance to talk to Talisien about my dagger. Rozan said it was what flipped your spell around - of course, he couldn't have just told me that... he said it lashed out of its own accord.- A sudden thought entered his mind, and he grinned a little. -'Mione?-

Yes?

-Do you remember our first Potion's class of the year, when Snape was so mad at the fact that I made it in with an Outstanding OWL?

It would be hard to forget that...-

-And how, after he took points off me again for not knowing an answer, I looked to you for support...

-Uh... Harry...-

He cut her off by shaking his head. -You gave me that answer, didn't you?- With a wry grin, she nodded so lightly that he could barely notice. That didn't matter, though, because as soon as he knew the answer he threw his head back in a deep, throaty laugh - a laugh that hadn't been heard in that house since Sirius had died.

-What's so funny?-

-Snape was right!- Harry managed to blurt out. -He was right! Only, he was wrong, too, because it wasn't me who was using legilimency on you, it was the other way around!-

-Oh honestly, Harry, I know I shouldn't have cheated like that, and I swear to you that I haven't cheated on anything like that ever again and...-

This time, he silenced her with a light kiss. -Never mind,- he whispered. -It's in the past. Let's go downstairs to find something to eat before Minerva comes looking for us to start our daily training again.-

Hermione caught him as he was standing, and pulled him back down to the bed. -About yesterday, Harry...-

-And Snape?-

-Yeah...-

-I told you, 'Mione... no one calls you that anymore. No one.-

She was caught off guard by that statement. -Calls me what, Harry? All he said was not to be showing our affections in public and not to fall behind in class, or he would take fifty points off apiece...-

-Bloody hell...-

-What?-

-Rozan was right,- Harry growled. -And that means I've got to find our Potion's Master and apologise for what I did.- Seeing the confused expression on her face, he sighed. -Look, the Oakrium did act up yesterday. Mainly, it let me hear his thoughts rather than his words... only I thought he said them out loud and didn't just think them. I'm sure everyone's thought bad things about others before, and I can't really punish people for thinking, right?-

-What did he think that set you off like that, Harry?-

-Something about you being pregnant wouldn't be an excuse to fall behind... and then he called you a know-it-all mudblood Gryffindor.-

-Well... I guess that explains the anger, then, doesn't it?- Hermione asked once she recovered from the shock. She knew Snape didn't care for her very much, but the fact that he might think something like that about her...

-It doesn't explain where the power came from, though,- Harry pointed out. -Which is another thing I want to ask Minerva about during training today.-

Hermione kissed him lightly on the nose and then pushed away from the bed. -In that case... I've got the shower first!- she mewed quickly as she shot towards the door. Harry just groaned and laid back down to bed. He should have seen that coming...  
---------------------  
"Explain yourself, Harry," McGonagall suggested. They were sitting on the floor of the downstairs study, about to begin their relaxation exercises when Harry had spoken up.

"I just want to know if any of the animal's strengths or weaknesses transfer over to us when we become animagi," Harry explained. "In particular, since we are both turning into magical creatures, will any of their abilities transfer to us when we aren't transformed? Like, the kneazle's ability to detect truth and lies?"

"Magical transference?" McGonagall repeated. "Well, that is subject that is highly under debate since there are very few magical creature animagi out there. It is a proven fact, however, that normal creatures don't transfer very much to the witch or wizard at all... I, myself, have gained a quieter step, but that would be about it."

"You said you knew a few witches and wizards in the past who became magical creatures, right?" Hermione pointed out. "Do what about them? Like, the lethifold, for example..."

Their transfiguration Professor seemed a little startled by the question, but recovered quickly enough. "Very well, Hermione. My friend who can change to the lethifold - I still feel it a great honour to have even met him, by the way - did indeed inherit some abilities... in fact, a very powerful ability."

"Is that why he remains unregistered?" Harry asked. "Because he doesn't want anyone to know about the abilities, and you are agreeing with covering it up for the same reason?"

"I would never wholeheartedly agree to break the law, Harry... but some cases do prove to be the exception. He can see through the shadows that are close by. In fact, I believe his current range is close to five miles, but he does need to be concentrating to make much out - there are a lot of shadows out there to look through."

"He can see through the shadows?" Hermione breathed in surprise.

"So he can see everything that goes on around him, can't he?" Harry asked.

McGonagall shook her head. "That is neither here nor there," she said firmly. "Why were you asking about magical transference, Harry?"

"Uh..." he trailed off. He didn't really want to reveal the fact that he could speak with Buckbeak and Crookshanks just yet, at least, not until he had done so again to make sure it wasn't just because he had been tired and his mind was tricked. "Hermione could tell that I wasn't telling her something about yesterday," he lied quickly. He met Hermione's eye before she could say anything, and she nodded subtly to say that she understood.

"Very well," McGonagall said after a moment. "In that case, we shall begin with relaxation, and go from there. After you have both attempted the change at least twice more, we will be going over more advanced relaxation techniques, until you have both perfected the forms, and it is no longer necessary."

It was four hours later that a very tired Harry sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. Hermione sat down next to him and immediately put her head on the table as though to sleep, but Harry couldn't find the energy to say anything to her. She had managed to transform twice more, but Harry hadn't managed it even once.

Apparently, magical animals were very difficult.

He looked around the kitchen slowly, waiting for his exhaustion to lift even a little bit so he could do something - like eat. He was pleased to find the damage that he had been told he had caused yesterday was almost entirely cleaned up. There was still a pile of broken glass in the sink, but otherwise, everything was cleaned up. The chairs had been returned to normal, and the windows had been repaired, as well as several glasses - enough for one a person who was staying in Grimmauld Place.

"Feeling better, Harry?" Remus asked as he came into the kitchen. When Harry looked up but didn't say anything, the werewolf smiled. "Good to see it. Sorry you are so tired... Minerva is trying to fit six months of work into eight days, though. Six now, though."

"Six?" Harry asked in surprise, reaching within himself for the energy he needed to talk with his godfather. Something had changed, and he had to know what was going on. "Are people coming earlier than expected?"

"Your friends will be arriving tomorrow," Remus replied. "So she is hoping that Hermione finishes at least. No one would be surprised to hear that you were receiving extra training, though. At least, none of those coming."

"Who all is coming, anyway? I mean, I know Ron and Ginny will be here, but..."

"I can't tell you the rest just yet, Harry," Remus interrupted him. "But you will be in for a pleasant surprise, I imagine." He pulled up a chair across from the two children and conjured a plate of food and a few goblets filled with chilled pumpkin juice. "Minerva tells me that you both need to learn to relax more before you will be able to get this down."

"I don't understand how anyone can relax more than we have been," Harry objected, nudging Hermione awake as he reached for a goblet to hand to her. "It feels like we are almost asleep when we are finished the sets."

"I'll admit, it was quite amusing to see James and Sirius trying to relax that much," Remus said with a chuckle. "They were always on guard, after all. After pulling pranks on almost the entire school, they had good reason... even though I doubt anyone would have tried for revenge except old Snape." Both Harry and Hermione noticed that he skipped mentioning Peter Pettigrew - the traitor Wormtail.

"Didn't they relax by pulling pranks, though?" Harry asked after taking a long pull on his cold drink. It seemed to breath energy into him again, and he sat forward to listen a bit better. "That's why they did it, wasn't it? For fun?"

"Yeah... and it was fun," Remus admitted. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Hermione!" he objected. She was staring at him with a surprised look, as those she hadn't expected him to admit to anything like that. "I was a Marauder, too, after all. Just because I was a little more grounded than the others didn't mean I didn't step out of line at least as often!"

Harry smiled as the two looked at each other, and he reached forward for a treakle tart. Even though he should have been taking a sandwich or something first, he wanted the sweet treat before anything else. "Could you tell me a bit about... my mum?" Harry asked when the two fell silent. "Like, how did my dad ever get her to like him after all he did that upset her?"

Both were surprised when he leaned back in his chair and got a far off look in his eye. "Well, Harry, I can try. I don't understand it all myself, though. Sometimes, things just can't be explained. But the main thing was that James let his big head deflate a little - he stopped walking around like he owned the place. He was still an excellent chaser and pulled pranks whenever he thought he could get away with it - even as Head Boy, he did that!"

"And Dumbledore let him?"

"I doubt he could have stopped him, even if he had wanted to. But I remember hearing him say something to another teacher one day about how we all need a bit of laughter in dark times."

"He said that about Fred and George, too," Harry pointed out.

"That's why they kept getting away with things, right?" Hermione asked, looking to Harry, who shrugged. "It must be. And I guess it makes sense... but some of the things they did went too far, really! I mean, stealing all the toilet seats on the entire third floor? Honestly..."

"We stole them from the first through the fifth," Remus interjected. Both younger people in the room looked to him in shock, and he chuckled. "Actually, that was Lily's idea... once she and James started going out, she loosened up a lot, too. Started suggesting pranks that we hadn't even dreamed of before. Brilliant mind, Lily's..."

-Like yours,- Harry purred to Hermione, looking over to her.

-Think I 'loosened up' like your mum did around your dad?- Hermione mewed back to him, still leaning on the table more than usual. -I break the rules for you all the time... and...-

-Not all the time,- Harry objected. -But sometimes...- he added with a grin.

-Do you think you like me because I'm like your mum, or because...-

-You are you, 'Mione,- Harry interrupted her, putting a hand on her shoulder to make her looked right at him. -And I don't care what anyone else thinks. That's why I've fallen for you. That's why I chose to try and be with you. Because you are you.-

The sound of Remus clearing his throat tore the two teens away from their conversation with each other and back to him. He looked back and forth between the two for a moment before leaning forward. "Tell me... how long has this been going on?"

"What?" Harry asked, confused. He looked over to Hermione, who looked equally confused until something clicked in her mind and she sat up quickly. "What is it?"

"You mean, us talking to each other in kneazle," Hermione replied to both questions at once. "That's what it sounded like, right? Purrs, hisses, mews, things like that?"

"But you can't talk to animals," Harry pointed out. "I can, but..."

"I change into a kneazle, Harry," Hermione reminded him gently. "Magical transference... I guess I can speak kneazle now, too. I mean, I'll check with Crookshanks and do a quick search in the library for other cases, but I'm sure that's what's going on," she explained.

Remus shushed them both suddenly, as they were talking a bit louder than they had been earlier. "I take it you just found out about this?" he whispered to them. They both nodded. "But you knew Harry could talk to animals... because of Buckbeak and Crookshanks, right?" he asked as he realised what had happened after their initial transformation. Again, they nodded. "So you had no idea you were talking to each other differently?"

Harry shook his head. "It's just like my parseltongue," Harry explained. "I don't realise I'm talking in another language at all..."

Remus nodded as Hermione shot up again after having slouched a little - obviously still tired. "We're going to have to be very careful, Harry," she whispered. "We can't be talking in kneazle around anyone else! They'd know that I went through the training, too, and we can't let anyone know, remember?"

"They aren't supposed to know about me, either, but I guess that's changed a little, hasn't it?" Harry asked, looking to Remus. "If they're coming tomorrow and all."

Hermione sat forward and started eating quickly. "If they're coming tomorrow," she said in between mouthfuls. "Then we have to really work this afternoon and evening. We've got to get it down before they arrive, right?"

And that was how Harry found himself later that night completely knackered. He wasn't entirely sure how he ended up in bed before falling asleep, though he suspected their professor might have had something to do with that. After explaining to her their newfound abilities, she pushed them quite hard to perfect their forms. Hermione had managed to transform four more times that day, while he had managed it only once all day. Still, it was a great feeling of accomplishment, even though neither had managed to perfect their forms so they could transform without tiring or relaxation.

Even if he hadn't found anything out about the strange power he had excerted the day before, he still felt that they had done a lot that day.

With a contented sigh, he wrapped his arms firmly around the already sleeping Hermione lying on top of him and tried to kiss the top of her head. Unfortunately, he only made it halfway there before sleep took him.

------------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**The Shadows**


	23. Willow

Chapter Twenty Three: Willow 

Warmth. Comforting, loving, gentle warmth.

That was really all Harry could make his mind focus on when he stirred to consciousness again. He wasn't really still tired, but he did feel warm. Not really unbearably warm, though. It was calming. As he took a deep breath to start waking up fully, he had to correct his thoughts.

It was Hermione.

Giving the witch in his arms a bit of a squeeze, he felt her start to stir. Gently, he placed a kiss on the top of her frazzled hair that was even bushier than usual after just waking up. She turned her head up to look at him, and smiled.

"Morning, 'Mione," Harry whispered to her. "Sleep well?"

"Better than ever before," she replied, breaking off to yawn before saying anything else. "I can't remember the last time when I woke up feeling like I could just stay in bed forever and not worry about anything ever again. Just so long as you stay here, too."

"Good. I feel the same way... but we both know that can't happen. Minerva will be here before too long to wake us up - if Remus or your parents doesn't beat her to it - so we can keep training."

"I just feel so relaxed now," Hermione whispered as she arched her back in a stretch that was almost more cat like than human. "Better than anything we've done in exercises."

Harry didn't need to be told that she was going to try to shift her form again. If she was more relaxed now than before, it meant that she had a good chance on succeeding. If anyone could become a full animagi in six days or less, it would have to be Hermione.

The white light that had surrounded them each time they attempt the transformation didn't follow her this time. Instead, a whoosh of air filled in where her human body had once been as she suddenly winked out of existence. In her place sat a fully grown brown kneazle looking up at Harry with it's oddly squashed face. She flicked her lion tail at him and then sauntered up his body until she was standing on his chest.

/I did it! she purred, rubbing the side of his face with her furry one. Without another word, she leapt from the bed and landed on the ground as a human again. "I can do it!" she exclaimed, turning quickly to wrap her arms around Harry. "I've finally done it!"

"Only one problem then, 'Mione..." Harry said slowly. The excitement drained from her face slowly as she waited for him to continue, and he broke out into a grin. "Here you are as the fastest witch to ever perfect an animagus transformation, and you can't even tell anyone!"

"I can tell Minerva!" Hermione countered, changing back into a kneazle in an instant and landing on the ground with a soft thump. /Can you open the door and let me out? she mewed.

/Sure thing, 'Mione, Harry purred back. /Just stay there for a minute while I change, and then we can go down together. Without waiting for her answer, he threw the rest of the coverings off him onto the floor and leapt out of bed. Her excitement was sort of contagious. Once he had changed out of his robes and into a fresh set, he pulled the green cloaks off the doorknob, and threw Hermione's onto the bed before donning his own. Once he had checked his dagger, he pulled the door open and the kneazle on the ground shot out before he could even blink.

He smiled to himself and started down the stairs after her, flipping his fingers over his wand that was in his pocket. Having Hermione in such a great mood to start the day off meant that the 28th was looking to be very promising indeed.

All thoughts went out the window as he pushed the kitchen door open to let Hermione in as she purred to him. She managed to take several steps into the open space before stopping herself, but by then it was too late anyway.

"Hey guys..." Harry said slowly. His house was no longer as empty as it had been last night. Ron was sitting at the table stuffing his face with breakfast as Luna sat right next to him. They weren't alone, either. Neville and Colin were there, eating a little more civilized than Ron was, and both Ginny and Lavender were kneeling in front of the fire as though trying to warm themselves. "When did you get here?"

He stopped watching them as he felt Hermione press herself behind his legs, as though trying not to be seen by their friends. None of the adults were present, but Harry knew there was no way to hide Hermione. He bent down to pet her carefully, trying to pretend that she was actually a kneazle and not his girlfriend in animal form.

"We got here about an hour ago," Lavender replied, looking up. "Had to fly halfway across the country on broomsticks, though. It's cold out there!"

"Been there, done that!" Harry grinned.

"When did you get that kneazle, Harry?" Colin asked, leaning away from the table to look around Neville at the small bushy brown animal. "I heard they were really rare, and was surprised to even see Hermione's Crookshanks, which is half kneazle."

"Well, she..."

"Oh, sorry Harry!" McGonagall said as she pushed the door open before he could go any further. "She sort of got away from me there," she added, kneeling next to him to pet Hermione much as he was doing. Her broad smile at both of them vanished as she stood up to face the others. "Harry asked me to watch her while he came to get something to eat. I gave her to him as an early Christmas present."

With a lopsided grin, Harry shrugged as he stood, picking up Hermione as he did so. "What do you all think?"

To say he was surprised to suddenly find himself surrounded by Lavender, Luna, Colin, Neville, Ginny, and Ron would be an understatement as they all gathered around for a closer look. "What's her name, Harry?"

"Uh..." Harry stammered, thinking as quickly as he could. "She seems to answer to Willow," he offered. "Right Professor?"

McGonagall sighed and shook her head. "Just because there are others around now, Harry, doesn't mean you can go back to calling me that just yet. It is still the holidays, after all."

"Sorry Minerva."

"Better. And I've told you what I think of Willow already. Truly remarkable."

If Harry hadn't known any better, he would swear that Dumbledore had taken over McGonagall's body the way her eyes were twinkling as she looked at him pointedly. "That she is, Minerva. That she is."

"Can I talk to you for a sec, Harry?" Ron whispered as he leaned in a little closer. "Away from all this?" he added, motioning to the crowd around them.

"Do any of you want to hold her for a bit?" Harry asked, looking down to Hermione carefully to gauge her reaction. The look on her face seemed to say that she found the whole situation as a cross between horrifying and amusing.

Once he handed her off to Lavender, he took Ron over to the fireplace, only to find Ginny follow them over. He didn't have the chance to say anything before Ron cut in, though. "Look, mate, I've been a real prat," he explaining, turning his face to the side a bit. "Do you think slugging me a good one would knock some sense into me?" he added, patting his cheek.

"I doubt it," Harry said with a touch of humour in his voice. "You've run into the wall pretty hard a couple of times, and been hit with more bludgers than I can count. My fists aren't hard enough."

"Guess I deserved that, didn't I?" Ron said with a sigh. After a moment, he looked back to Harry carefully. "I'm sorry, Harry. And when Hermione comes down, I'll apologise to her, too. I shouldn't have said anything like that to you during the Ball."

This was exactly the conversation that he had been both dreading and looking forward to. He knew that Hermione would probably burst into tears at the fact that they were talking again, a thought that brought a small smile to his face before drawing a blank again. "Then why did you?" he asked in a firm voice.

"That would be because of me," Ginny piped up finally.

"Oh, talking to me again, are you?" Harry asked as bit harshly. "Trust me enough not to lie for a minute or two, at least?"

"I guess I deserved that..."

"No you didn't!" Ron butted in. "I know she hurt you, Harry, but that's no reason to..."

"Ron, stop," Ginny cut him of before Harry could say anything again. "I did deserve it. I said some pretty awful things to him over the past month... to Hermione, too." She then turned back to Harry, a fire burning in her eyes as tears started to leak out of them. "But I'm sorry, Harry! I really am! I was just so... hurt... that you didn't say anything earlier. It was so hard!"

Harry took a deep breath before putting a hand on one of her shoulders and wiping at one of her tears gently. "I can't say that we're blameless in this mess either, Gin," he said softly. "I should have told you right up front the first time you asked... but 'Mione and I decided to keep it a secret. And not to embarrass you, either, but to keep her safe for a little longer."

"I know," Ginny hiccoughed. "I know. But that doesn't really stop the hurt. But the past month of avoiding both of you and refusing to talk to anyone about you... that was the hardest time of my life. I can't bare not being your friends... and I'm afraid that..."

Harry cut her off by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight embrace. "You didn't lose us, Gin. We thought we had lost you." When they separated again, Ginny looked to the kitchen door. "Don't worry," Harry added, as though sensing what was going through her mind. "She wouldn't be upset with me giving a hug to my little sister..."

"You'd still think of me as... even after I..."

"If you forgive 'Mione, too, then..." Harry trailed off with a smile. He then looked to Ron again. "Are we good, mate?"

"Yeah. I think we're good," Ron said, clasping Harry's raised hand. He then broke into a grin. "I've got to admit, it was tough not hanging out with you two. Even with Luna around, it's not quite the same. We always spent a little time together anyway..."

"She's not the pranking type?" Harry joked.

"No, she doesn't help him with his homework!" Ginny butted in. When Ron tried to protest, she smiled and looked to Harry again. "You should thank her, by the way. She's the one who figured out what was going on, and why Ron reacted so badly. Just trying to protect his little sister..."

Harry looked back over to the other group, who were still fawning over kneazle Hermione, or 'Willow.' The three stood in amicable silence for a moment before Willow let out a particularly loud hiss and leapt out of their hands, shooting like a bullet over to Harry.

He scooped her up in an instant and forgot everything else in the room as he looked down to her. /What's wrong? he purred to her.

/Colin wanted to see if petting a kneazle the wrong way hurt or not... Hermione mewed loudly back to him. /I hadn't thought about that aspect before. Remind me next time I'm with Crookshanks to be especially careful.

/Alright... Willow, Harry grinned.

/Honestly, Harry... she hissed gently back at him before purring. /That was some fast thinking. She then paused and looked up to Ron and Ginny. /What's going on? Oh, Harry, you're talking kneazle in front of everyone!

The colour drained out of Harry's face as he realised that, but didn't reply right away. After a moment, he purred back to her. /Well, it's out of the bag, now. Might as well take advantage of it quickly. Ron and Ginny apologised to me, and said they would do the same to you. They'll explain, I'm sure. I hugged Ginny to make her feel better, but that was the only reason... I'd have rather hugged you, but you were kind of busy...

Whatever she purred back to him was missed entirely as Ron spoke up. "Harry, when did you learn how to talk to kneazles?" he asked. "I mean, snakes is one thing, but..."

Fortunately, Harry didn't have to answer this question, as McGonagall cut him off. "I imagine that his parseltongue must be evolving," she explained. "A rare phenomenon, but Harry is not exactly your average wizard, now is he?" Before anyone could say anything else, she looked to Harry pointedly. "Your training will continue after lunch. This morning, I will let you catch up with your friends."

"Where is Hermione, anyway?" Lavender asked. "I thought she'd be up by now... she's always up so early at Hogwarts."

"Probably reading," Harry said almost instantly. Looking down to the kneazle in his arms, he leaned down and she her on the ground. "Willow, would you mind going to get Hermione and bringing her downstairs?"

With a loud meow, Hermione sauntered out of the room, trying her best to imitate the normal feline behaviour of pretending they owned everything in sight. Once the door swung shut again, Harry looked around the kitchen. "Once Hermione gets down here, I think we'll get some breakfast, and you can all tell me just what's going on."

Breakfast was a much louder affair in Grimmauld Place that morning than it had been for weeks and months. The first thing that happened when Hermione came back was her receiving a massive hug from Ginny, and then a slightly smaller one from Ron. After that, it was mostly chaos and pandemonium as everyone tried to get at food.

Hermione ended up sitting right next to Harry, who gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, but that was it for affectionate gestures. He did keep one hand on her leg for most of the meal... until Lavender, Luna, and Ginny all drag her to the side to talk without "boy interference."

"I've been dying to ask ever since the Ball," Lavender started as soon as they were separate. "Two things. First of all, is Harry a good kisser?"

"Lavender!"

"Alright, sorry, sorry..." she held up her hands in self defense. "Fine, real question... did he give you that necklace?" she asked, pointing to the trinket hanging around Hermione's neck.

She lifted the amulet slightly to finger the four precious stones carefully. "I told you each about the bracelet he gave me, didn't I?" Hermione asked quietly, letting the necklace fall again as she lifted her arm to show it to them again.

"Hermione, you didn't tell anyone about you seeing him at all, remember?" Ginny asked pointedly. "A fact that, if I recall correctly, ended up with a rather horrific scene that ended thanks to a carefully slipped potion."

"I had to take Colin to the hospital wing the next morning, by the way," Lavender interrupted as they all broke out into smiles... save for Luna, who seemed to simply be staring off into space at their feet.

"Alright, then. The bracelet was Harry's first gift to me..." she began, trying to figure out how she was going to explain it to them easily. "Elves have three vows of commitment. Protection, Family, and Love."

"Harry's following elven customs?" Luna asked suddenly, startling the others. "Isn't that a little odd?"

"Coming from you, should that be an insult or a compliment?" Lavender asked with a grin towards the smaller Ravenclaw girl, who happened to ignore the remark completely.

"He wanted something meaningful," Hermione explained. "The bracelet is for protection. By wearing it, I am promising to stop at nothing to protect him from harm. And before you ask, he's wearing one, too."

As one, the three girls looked over to the boys, and, after a few minutes of watching them carefully, caught the glint of gold hidden beneath Harry's robes and cloak.

"Before you go any further, Hermione," Ginny said once they turned back to her. "What's with his cloak? It's not like any wizarding cloak I've ever seen... it's far too light to serve any warmth purpose, right?"

"His... oh blast!" Hermione said as she brought a hand up to her shoulders. She ignored the looks of surprise from the others and she shook her head. "I forgot to put mine on this morning!" When she found them still waiting for an answer, she shrugged. "Talisien gave them to us. Not sure why, but they are quite nice. They are warm or cold, depending on what is needed, and are so light that you can barely even feel it unless necessary. I tried examining it to figure out what it was made out of, but couldn't figure it out."

Lavender exchanged a glance with Ginny - both ignoring Luna again, who was staring at the edge of the fireplace now - and then burst into giggles. "Trust you, girl, to overanalyze a gift like that!"

"Well, then maybe I just won't tell you about the necklaces, then..." Hermione said, turning away from them with a small sniff. She was stopped before even getting halfway around, and hauled back. "Alright, fine. The necklace... is very important. It's family."

"Harry doesn't have any family," Luna said softly. "His parents are dead and he lost his godfather last year."

"I know," Hermione replied sadly. "But that didn't stop him. He spoke to Professor Lupin and both Fred and George about that... and they all agreed before he gave it to me. If anything happens to him, then they'll look after me... help me get back on my feet, like that."

"Fred and George knew?" Ginny asked in surprise. She didn't even wait for an answer before shaking her head. "I should have known they wouldn't say anything. If anyone can keep a secret, it's those two brothers of mine..."

"They... uh... they actually all swore wizard's oaths on the matter," Hermione added, looking right at Ginny to make sure the youngest Weasley heard and understood what she said. "Harry convinced them to."

"He made my brothers swear an oath to look after you?" Ginny all but shouted in surprise. "And they agreed?"

"Harry didn't go into much detail, but in the end... yes, they did." She then looked over at Harry, who was laughing at something one of the boys had said. "I gave him a necklace, too. My parents promised me the same for Harry."

The four girls were actually silent for a moment before Lavender piped up again. "So what's the last symbol? I mean, it represents love, right? It's a ring, isn't it?"

"If only you applied yourself so strongly in... say... transfiguration, Lavender..." Hermione said with a smile. "Yes, it's a ring. In the elven society, the ring is basically an engagement. But for us, I think it will be the end of the elven vows, and where we take it from there is uncharted waters."

"So, he gave you both the bracelet and necklace first, did he?" Lavender asked.

"No, I gave him the bracelet, and then he explained to me what it meant. He gave me the necklace," Hermione explained.

"I'm glad you two are happy together," Ginny whispered a little sadly. "I really am."

"I know, Gin. But don't worry... you'll find someone," Hermione promised her.

Remus coming into the room interrupted the conversations as all the dishes vanished, along with the table. "Alright, who would like a tour of the house you are staying at for the next two weeks?"

The tour that the old Marauder took the group on started in the basement with several large rooms that were set up like classrooms. In one corner of the stone basement, however, was a smaller room with a foot thick door and steel bars surrounding the room. He explained to them the purpose of the room with two words.

Full moon.

Beyond the basement, on the first floor there was the kitchen, which they were all familiar with, as well as two studies and a large family room. There appeared to be a fireplace in each room on the first floor. The second floor contained the bedrooms - Harry's room which had once been Sirius's study, Remus's room, a room for the Granger's which held two beds, a large room with six beds for the boys, a large room with six beds for the girls, and two more rooms with several beds in them as spares. There were also, surprisingly enough, no less than three bathrooms, though Harry was sure one of them at least had been a closet when he had opened the door even the day before.

On the third floor that Harry had never really explored was really only one room that encompassed all of it. This was the library that Hermione had mentioned to him earlier, and he could only stare in awe as he looked around the massive compilation of books. They were everywhere... the room looked like it had been magically enhanced to be larger than even the school library. It was not challenge to imagine Hermione spending all her free time in the room, which was exactly what everyone assumed she had done. There was even a stack of old leather bound books sitting on one table with a stack of parchment and several quills sitting next to it.

The last floor was the attic, which housed Buckbeak's room, as well as several large storage rooms and passages to many of the rooms in the basement and first floors, and a hallway that lead to a balcony.

It was with no great surprise after the tour was over that Hermione dragged Harry back to the library while the others took the time to move their things into their rooms. Harry quickly explained what had gone on with Ron and Ginny - despite the fact that they had both told her the same thing when she had entered the kitchen earlier in the morning.

"So, what have you been reading up here, anyway?" Harry asked as he looked down for the first time at the table of books. Picking up the closest one, he read the cover. "'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Phoenix Gortendra the Black,' by Mist Palada and Lisa Asil," he read aloud. "Interesting reading material..."

He trailed off when he saw Hermione looking at him in surprise. Lowering the book, he waited for her to say something. "You can read that?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Um... yeah..." he said slowly, looking at the book again. "Here, I'll show you." He opened the book to a random page and started to read aloud. "' "When I release you, do not yell or scream. Do not speak until I ask you to. Do you understand?" a deep male voice asked her. When she nodded agreement, the pressure on her face was removed, and she turned around to face the male. She saw a man of black skin, with black hair and, stranger still, black eyes. No colour came from them. He wore black clothing as well, and had a black sword at his side. But he was mostly concealed beneath a strange looking cloak that was, not surprisingly, black as well. She looked at him, waiting for him to speak.' "

"Harry, I've been working on translating these whenever I have the time," Hermione explained slowly. "Look carefully at the words again," she suggested, putting a hand on his and forcing him to lower the book to the table. Leaning over the book, he was a little confused by her suggestion, but complied nonetheless.

It took all of a minute before he realised that it was not written in English, but in a language that he didn't recognise. As he stared at the words, though, they again rearranged themselves before his eyes into his native language. "What's going on, 'Mione?" he whispered to her.

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she leap up from the table and zipped around the library, pulling down several different books as she went before returning with an armload. "Have a look at these, would you?"

With a confused sigh, he nodded and picked up a book in each hand, reading the cover aloud of each. "'Secrets of the Flying Charm on Brooms Revealed,' by M.A. Murdo. 'The Easiest Way to Find Your Way,' by Sinat Jones.' " Putting down both tomes, he picked up two more. "'The Study of Latin Grammar,' by K.J.W. 'The Use of Alternate Language Spells,' by Eugene et. al."

"Alright, Harry... now look more carefully at them, please," Hermione suggested.

"Could you just tell me what's going on?" Harry asked instead, looking away from the books in front of him and back to her. Looking into her brown eyes, he saw the fierce determination that he always associated with her trying to solve a complicated problem. "Alright, alright..." Turning his attention away from the witch beside him with considerable effort to return to the books, he leaned over them again, not picking them up this time.

"Well?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"French, German, Latin, and Greek," Harry said firmly, tapping each book in turn. "These aren't written in English. And the books that you have here are written in Ancient, aren't they?"

"Excellent, Harry," she said at once. "Now that you've figured that out, let's find out why you can read them all."

He couldn't help but grin as he leaned back a little. "Jealous, are we?" he asked quietly.

The flush that rose in Hermione's cheeks came so quickly that she didn't have a chance to look away. Instead, she simply looked at him carefully. "Yes," she said equally as softly. "You've just learned who knows how many languages without effort, and here I am struggling with this one!" She sighed and looked away from him. "Who wouldn't be jealous? I mean, a translating charm isn't that hard, but I can't use it on the Ancient language, because that charm doesn't exist!"

"Would you let me help you, then?"

She looked back to him in surprise. "You'd do that, for me?"

Harry frowned at her and crossed his arms across his chest as he leaned back. "I thought you knew, Hermione. Considering the fact that I would move the stars for you if you wanted it, I don't think helping you with an unknown language is out of my limits."

Without any warning, Hermione pounced on him in an instant, locking her lips to his as she wrapped her arms around him. She sat down in his lap almost at once as she continued the kiss, and only pulled back after both had thoroughly explored the others' mouth with their tongues.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear. "I really do love you, you know..."

"I know," he whispered back. When she leaned back again, he smiled to her. "I don't suppose you'd consider waiting for that help for a bit, would you?" he asked. "I have something else in mind for a while..."

"Of course!" she said instantly, leaping out of his lap and starting towards the library shelves again. He caught her hand before she could take two steps, and she looked back to him in surprise when she heard a soft growl. "I guess a bit of our animals are coming over, aren't they?" she said. "But like you said, we'll wait on the translating. For now, we have to find out why you can do it. We need to know more about lyras, I think."

Harry sighed and stood up slowly, never more glad to have been wearing his loose robes than he was right then. In jeans, he imagined he would have had a bit of difficulty standing quite so soon after such a passionate snogging. "That's not quite what I meant, you know..."

"What?" Hermione asked, looking back to him once more and away from the shelves. Almost instantly, a blush rose on her cheeks as she caught his meaning finally. "Oh... sorry, Harry... but we really need to know this before you get stolen away by Minerva for your afternoon lesson."

"Can we make it up tonight, then?"

Hermione's breath caught in her throat despite herself, and she had to force herself to breathe carefully. The sound of his voice right then, coupled with the words spoken, set a fire burning deep within her that she hadn't even quite felt before. Not entirely trusting her voice, she nodded quickly several times and then turned back to the shelves.

It wasn't long before she had pulled down the book that she had apparently been looking for, though Harry didn't join her at the table right away. He continued looking through the various titles in the library, amazed by how many different languages were found within the large library. _My library..._ he thought to himself. _Though I think 'Mione would appreciate it more than me._

"Here it is!" Her voice called him away from his thoughts, and he sat down next to her, well aware that he was more watching her than listening. Part of his mind was listening, though, because he knew what she was saying was important. Besides, he respected her too much to ignore her completely. "Oh Harry, this is amazing. Lyras can talk to any animal, and even to humans! Any language in the world, known or not!"

"That's fairly powerful magics, isn't it?"

"Not only that, but..."

"But what?" he asked when she trailed off and continued to read.

"Let me try something. Close your eyes," she suggested as she stood up. Once he had his eyes closed, he heard something whoosh passed him. "Alright, now open them." He did as instructed again and looked around.

"So what did you do?" he asked. Looking around, he found her next to the torches by the entrance. She had her wand out, and a light was surrounding it. "Why do you have the Lumos spell active?"

She didn't reply right away. Instead, she walked over and sat down next to him, holding her wand closer to the book to read some more. "Harry, it's pitch black in here without my wand," she explained after a minute or two of silence. "But this little light is enough to let you see everything in here as though it was still bright."

Harry let that information sink into his mind before waving at the torches to light them again. It was one of the things about wizarding life that he still hadn't quite gotten used to, but was working on it - lighting that obeyed commands.

"So, I can understand any language and see in the dark?"

"Pretty much. There is also the possibility that you could fly, but I'd rather you didn't try that. I worry enough when you are on a broom..." she trailed off almost at once when she realised what she had said. There still hadn't been any outcome on the status of his Firebolt.

"They'll figure it out in time," Harry said, sensing why she had stopped. "No way I'm not playing again this year," he added vehemently. "I missed most of last year, it's not happening again." He then looked back to her carefully. "So, I got all this from being able to change into a lyra... or rather, the fact that I will be able to change into a lyra. I haven't perfected it yet like you. What do you get for being a kneazle?"

Hermione smiled and closed the book she had been looking through. "I thought you knew about kneazles. They can tell when someone's lying or being untrustworthy, they never get lost, and have almost perfect hearing. For example, I can hear someone coming upstairs now... I think it's Luna and Ron."

"Does this mean I can't keep any secrets from you any more?" Harry whispered to her quickly before the others arrived.

"Not a one."

Harry pouted as he sat back, making Hermione grin at him. "So much for surprise birthdays or presents, then, right..."

"Well... I suppose I could make an exception every now and then..."

It ended up that Ron and Luna were looking to tell them that lunch was ready. Both vowed, once the other two had left, to spend more time with their friends in the mornings. They had been alone for quite some time, and although neither had any complaints about that, they both wanted to spend time with their friends, too. Especially now that Ron and Ginny were talking to them again.

After the rather loud and enjoyable lunch, Harry was pulled into a basement classroom by McGonagall to work on his animagi form. They all knew that this was his extra training, and no one questioned it. He needed the extra protection, and they all knew it. The session that afternoon was spent mostly working on relaxing more than he had been - nothing they tried seemed to make much headway on it.

Once supper was over, Harry finally felt the drain of the day catching up to him as he dragged himself upstairs to his room. Inside, he found Ron waiting for him, sitting at his desk playing with his miniature Hungarian Horntail that he had received two years ago now.

"What's up, Ron?"

The red head looked up quickly, startled by Harry's sudden reappearance. He put down the small dragon quickly and shrugged. "Just thought I'd take a look at your room, that's all. I've gotta admit, though, I thought you'd be sleeping in the same room as me again."

"Well... this is my house now, you know," Harry said a little uncomfortably. "So it makes sense for me to have my own room, right?"

Apparently Ron had gotten a bit better at sensing emotions, because he stood up and shrugged. "Don't worry, mate, I understand. I know you'd rather still be stuck with the Dursley's than have gotten possession of this place like you did."

"Too true there."

Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder as he walked passed to the doorway. "I probably didn't mention this earlier and all, but you and Hermione... you seem good together."

Harry smiled and then turned. "Thanks mate. You and Luna... you're good too."

"Glad to hear it." Ron stepped to the side as the brown kneazle Willow pranced into the room, half pushing one of his legs out of the way so she could get in. She stopped partway in and looked up to Harry.

/Should I come back later? she purred to Harry, looking over to Ron. /I'm not interrupting am I?

/Don't worry about it, Harry promised. /Ron was just leaving. "Weren't you, Ron?"

"Wasn't I what?" he asked, looking away from Willow and back to Harry. "Harry, that kneazle talk is crazy you know. I think I prefer it when you talk to snakes. That I can wrap my mind around..."

"Sorry," Harry said instantly, not having realised he had slipped into the other language so easily. It would take great concentration, he was sure. "I told Willow you were just leaving. Right?"

The kneazle mewed back (Right.) and Ron nodded. "I was, don't worry, you furry little creature. You know, I think I like her a lot more than Crookshanks. She hasn't tried to take a swipe at me for not doing my homework yet..." No sooner had he spoken than Hermione mewed again and slashed at his ankle lightly with a set of claws. "Alright, alright..." he said with a laugh. "I get the point. Kneazles like it when people do their homework." He looked back to Harry and laughed again. "Looks like you'll be doubly motivated to do your schoolwork now, what with this furball and Hermione after you."

"I guess so," Harry said, carefully looked down at Willow and not at Ron. "Night, Ron."

"Yeah. Night." Ron shut the door quietly, and Harry waved a hand towards it to lock it with a couple of charms that Remus had taught him.

As soon as he had finished, Hermione leapt up onto the bed as she transformed back into her human form. Harry swallowed hard and tried to will himself not to stare at her, but it wasn't working very well. She was wearing a light blue camisole on her top, and her bottoms were silk pajama pants. The way they were clinging to her made it very obvious that she didn't have any panties on underneath.

She caught his smile and smiled back. "I thought we could sleep in our pajamas tonight..." she whispered to him. "I'm sorry I'm so tired, though. I promised you in the library that we could continue what we started there now."

"Don't worry," Harry said at once. "You look amazing, by the way."

Hermione frowned and looked down at herself. "It's just my pajamas, Harry."

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he nodded. "Fine. Could you turn around for a minute, 'Mione? I'll change too, and then we can go to bed." Once she had turned, he shed his robes quickly and changed into a new pair of boxers before walking over and sitting on the bed next to her. When she looked back, it was her turn to stare. "These are my pajamas," he whispered.

"Wow..." she replied, reaching out and tracing a line down his front with a single finger.

"Wow yourself," he whispered in return, running his own finger down her bare arm and back up again, nestling into her neck in the end.

"Could you hold me like you always do?" Hermione asked as he crawled onto the bed beside her. "Like we always sleep?"

"My pleasure," he whispered so softly he couldn't even hear his own voice. He was sure she had heard him, though. Lying on his back, he pulled her into his arms, and she rested her head again his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the feel of the soft fabric on his chest as he rubbed her back gently. "Like this?"

/Purrfect, came the quiet response. /Harry?

/Yeah, 'Mione?

/We're going to have to be careful with the kneazle talk tomorrow.

/I know.

/I love you, Harry.

Harry smiled and held her a little closer as he closed his eyes and listened to the sound of her steadying breath. /I know.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**The Shadows**


	24. New Year's Day

Chapter Twenty Four: New Year's Day

Hermione woke to a sharp rapping sound, and groaned softly to herself as she tried to force herself awake. After a minute or so, the rapping sounded again, this time followed by a voice.

"Harry?" That woke her up almost instantly, and she sat up quickly, looking down at the wizard she had been asleep next to. He looked so peaceful, but she suspected it wouldn't last. "Harry, are you awake? I wanted to talk to Hermione, but she wasn't in her room!" She winced - she really didn't need Ginny shouting that to the entire household...

/Harry,/ she hissed to him, leaning in close and giving him a kiss of the cheek. He moaned and started to roll over, as though fighting to stay asleep. /Harry, wake up!/

"Alohamora!" Hermione closed her eyes and held her breath, not looking forward to the scene that was about to made. She pulled up the one strap of her camisole that had fallen down in the night quickly - otherwise, she was presentable, if still dressed in her pajamas. The door rattled, but didn't open. "What gives? C'mon Harry, wake up! Hermione's missing!"

"What?" The wizard in question opened his eyes very suddenly and sat up in the bed quickly, only to bump heads with Hermione. He managed to catch her before she fell off the bed at the sudden impact. "What's going on?" he asked in a tired, groggy voice.

/Ginny's just outside your room, looking for me!/ Hermione hissed, focusing on the fact that she had to speak kneazle to make sure Ginny wouldn't hear her voice. /What are we going to do?/

/First of all,/ Harry started, reaching for his glasses and moving back in his bed to sit up properly. /It isn't just my room - it's yours too./

/Harry!/

/I know, I know, this isn't the time.../ he whispered back. In English now, he looked to the door. "What is it, Ginny?"

"Harry? Are you awake now?" she called back.

"Hard to sleep through all the racket you're making, trust me!" he said with a grin to Hermione. He leaned up to kiss her silently on the lips as he waited for her answer.

"Hermione's not in her room, any idea where she might be?"

He pushed the blankets back on his bed and stood up slowly, stretching. Hermione forced herself to look away from him - he was dressed in only his boxers. At a glance from him, it hit her just how simple it was to fool Ginny into thinking she hadn't been there all night. It was the same way they had tricked Ron last night before bed.

Once she had shifted down into her kneazle form, Harry walked over to the door and opened it to find a nearly hysterical Ginny waiting for him. "What's up, Gin?"

"I told you, Hermione's missing," she said quickly. "And I really really need to talk to her about... something..." She started slowing down when she actually looked at him and found that he wasn't dressed yet. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times without any sound coming out before Hermione hissed up at her from next to Harry.

"I couldn't find her at all on Christmas morning," Harry said with a shrug, turning around and walking over to his dresser. He was careful to open the drawer that held only his clothes, and none of Hermione's. "I wouldn't worry about it... I'm sure she'll be down before too long."

"Uh..." Ginny looked behind her suddenly, as though afraid of being caught talking to a shirtless Harry. "If... if you aren't worried... then I guess it's fine. I'll talk to her... later. Yeah. Later. Bye Willow... Harry..."

Once she was completely out of the room again and down the hall, still looking a little dazed, Harry closed the door completely to let Hermione change back into herself again. "How dare she?" she spat out in a low voice. "How dare she?"

"What's wrong?" Harry asked softly. He hadn't really seen Hermione go from happy to mad so quickly before - even with Ron in their arguments!

"Ginny!" Hermione said fiercely, staring at the closed door. She suddenly whirled on him, a finger pointing at him. "Or didn't you notice her staring at you like that? Like you were just -"

Harry cut her off by pressing his lips to hers. She fought against the kiss for a moment before completely melting into it, wrapping her arms around him as though her very being depended on it. The way her legs were shaking when they finally separated said that she probably would have fallen to the floor if not for his support.

"Better?" he whispered in her ear. When she stiffened again in his arms, he went on. "I meant what I said last night, 'Mione. You're mine. And I'm yours. Don't ever doubt that." He gave her a quick peck on the forehead and then pulled away, going over to his dresser again to pull out a fresh set of robes. "We should get downstairs before someone else comes up," he said with a grin. "Wouldn't do for you to try and claw Minerva's eyes out, now would it?"

It seemed that he had finally managed to catch Hermione without any response, though she did blush rather heavily. She turned a bit to let him change - even though it was such a simple affair of changing his boxers and then pulling on his robes - before she went to the dresser and pulled out her own clothes. She found him waiting with his back turned by the door, so she pulled off her pajama pants - surprising herself when she found that the crotch was a bit damp and sticky simply from what cuddling they had done last night - and pulled on a fresh pair of panties. Her blue jeans were next, and then she pulled on a sweater over her camisole, not really wanting to change out of the comfortable nightshirt.

Once she had her green cloak on, she tossed Harry his and watched him check his side one more time before opening the door. She did the same, making sure both her dagger and wand were on her before leaving.

As soon as the two stepped foot downstairs, all conversation stopped. Ron and Luna looked pointedly at Harry, while almost everyone else seemed suddenly intent on their breakfast plates - all of which were currently empty, Harry noticed. Neville also seemed to be looking at him strangely, at which point he looked away from everyone and back to Hermione.

"Do I have some sort of rabbit ears growing out of my head or something?"

"Mr. Potter... a word, if you please." The two turned quickly to find Professor McGonagall standing behind them, looking rather grim. If her looks weren't enough, then the fact that she hadn't called Harry by his first name this time told him that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"What's happened?" he asked instantly, not caring about who was in the room suddenly. They were in his house, so he trusted them. All of them.

"The study's free, Minerva," Remus offered from the other side of the kitchen. "And Hermione, I believe your parents will be down shortly, so if you wouldn't mind getting them a couple of plates..."

"We have received... news," Minerva said softly to Harry, meeting his eyes for the first time that morning. He was surprised to see tears there, and found himself fighting off his own without warning. "And it's not good. Come along now..."

He didn't take the chair that she motioned to once they were inside the study. Instead, the moment the door closed, he whirled around to face her again. "What's happened?" he demanded again. "Who died?"

"No one last night, Harry," she said slowly. "We received news of... the attack that came before Christmas. We have all the casualties now."

"It's that bad?" His mind was racing already. He knew that four members of the DA had been killed, and quite a few other people, but beyond that, he didn't know names.

"Half of St. Mungo's was destroyed."

Harry sat down at that, hard, on the stone surrounding the fireplace. Ignoring the pain in his rear from such an endeavour, he just stared at his Professor as though _she_ had just grown rabbit ears. "Say again?"

"You-Know-Who blew the top half of the wizarding hospital away," Minerva said softly, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the room slowly. It was the first real time that Harry had really seen her looking anywhere close to her age. "The only survivors from the hospital were on floors three and down."

"So not only did he kill any number of muggles in his attacks, he took out that many witches and wizards with one blow?" Harry asked in amazement, trying to let it sink in carefully. He then sat up quickly. "Neville!" He looked back to his teacher quickly, and saw her shaking her head sadly. "His parents didn't make it, did they?"

Minerva couldn't find her voice to answer, and instead shook her head slowly. After a long silence, she stood up and looked to Harry. "I'll go tell him now... I wanted to stick true to my word and tell you what we knew as soon as I was aware of it."

"No," Harry said suddenly as he, too, stood up. "Let me tell him." He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders to face her. "It'll be easier coming from me. I've got to talk to him about something anyway."

"Are you sure, Harry?" she asked gently. "You already have to prepare yourself to talk to your DA about the four members that were lost..."

"Then consider this prep for it," Harry cut her off. "I need to tell him, Professor... Minerva. Just like I have to tell the DA later, I have to tell Neville this, now."

She nodded and stepped aside from the door. "I noticed that Gryffindor didn't lose any students in the attacks, by the way," she offered, her voice catching in her throat as she spoke. "But not everyone in Gryffindor is unscathed by them..."

"Can we continue my training after lunch, Minerva? I suspect this might take most of the morning," Harry explained as he walked back to the kitchen. "If you were to tell the others, though, that would help."

"Certainly, Harry."

After Harry had assured Neville that Buckbeak really was harmless, he finally agreed to take a seat in the attic next to Harry on the ground. He wasn't entirely sure why Harry had asked to speak to him alone, and was actually quite surprised when he had refused to tell Hermione what was going on first. All he had said was that she would have to sit tight and wait for Minerva to tell them.

"It's not good news, is it Harry?" Neville asked after a long silence fell upon the attic. "It's really bad, right?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, running his hand through his black hair as he tried to think of where to begin. He really had needed to talk to Neville for quite some time, but he had a lot more to say now than he had hoped he would ever need. "It's bad."

"Is Gran okay?"

"Yeah."

Another silence before Neville ventured another guess. "It's mum and dad, isn't it?"

"Yeah." This time, Harry didn't give Neville a chance to say anything before he was talking again. "But first I have to tell you something... something only a couple of other people actually know about. You will be the second that I've told personally, though. It's important that you not tell another living soul, understand?"

Neville nodded and closed his eyes. "You know you can trust me, Harry."

"I know," came the reply. Another silence, this time broken by Harry clearing his throat. "You know how I knew your birthday was around the end of July?"

"Not really... I thought someone told you..."

"Dumbledore mentioned it at the end of last year," Harry admitted. "But not just so I could wish you a happy birthday when I saw you later. He told me about a prophecy, Neville."

Neville's brown eyes widened at that, and he started stumbling over his words. "Prophecy? Is that... I mean it was... but how?"

"Yeah, it was the one that broke in the Department of Mysteries last year," Harry said, guessing at what the boy was trying to ask him about. "But Dumbledore knew it, because it had been told to him originally."

Neville nodded. "So, I'm a part of a prophecy, am I?"

"No."

"But I thought..."

"You could have been," Harry interrupted him. "It could have been either of us. Both of us were born as the seventh month died, and both of our parents had defied Voldemort three times. But in the end, he chose me."

"Voldemort?"

Harry was quite impressed that Neville actually said the name without stumbling or sounding afraid for once. "Yeah. I guess I have power that he doesn't understand, or something, which means that one of us is going to kill the other. I'm the only one who can kill him. That, or be killed by him."

"How do you know it's you and not me?" Neville asked quietly, not wanting to think he was suddenly a target and supposed to be a saviour as well.

Harry lifted his bangs up, exposing his scar for Neville to see clearly. "He 'marked me as an equal,' " he explained. "Which means he chose me, and that set the prophecy in stone. It's me, not you."

Neville nodded and took a deep breath before looking back to Harry again. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault, mate."

"I know. But I'm still sorry." He then sat forward again. "Voldemort attacked St. Mungo's, didn't he?" He didn't give Harry a chance to say anything before he continued. "My parents are dead, right?"

Harry nodded and closed off his eyes. He didn't want to see Neville's reaction to the news. "He blew apart the top floors. Anyone who was above the third floor was killed almost instantly."

"At least they died painlessly." Harry looked up in surprise to see Neville's determined expression. "I couldn't have asked for more."

"I'm sorry, Neville."

"So am I," Neville said, closing his eyes as a few tears leaked out. "I feel more sorry for Voldemort, though. You're going to tear him apart." Harry couldn't help but smile at the vote of confidence.

"I will." And he believed it, as the alternative was more than he could bare thinking about. "For all of us who have lost, and for all of those who stand to lose."

"I understand that four members of the DA died, too."

"Yeah," Harry said softly. "Hannah Abbot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, and Ernie MacMillian."

"They were good," Neville whispered. "But I can't cry for them now. I can't even cry for my parents yet."

"Can I join you in that cry later, then?"

"I'm not crying until Voldemort's dead."

"I can live with that."

Neville gave Harry a small, forced smile as he stood up. "Thanks, Harry. For telling me yourself."

"I insisted on it," Harry told him. "Neville, do you want me to invite your Gran to come here? She'd be safer here than anywhere but Hogwarts..."

"No," Neville said softly. "She's tough... but this time, I want to protect her. Not the other way around. And if she were here, that would be impossible."

Harry shared a quick hug with Hermione once the two had gone back downstairs, but he skipped lunch as he joined Minerva in the study again for his training to continue. With the door locked, they worked on relaxation exercises, though Harry couldn't get the determined look from Neville out of his thoughts. If everyone was as brave as Neville had become... then Voldemort wouldn't stand a chance!

Once training was over - though Harry didn't feel any better about it afterwards than he did when he started - he set about trying to figure out what everyone was up to.

After apologising to Hermione for not telling her about the attacks earlier - to which she said she understood, given that Neville really needed to be told by a good friend first - he decided against his earlier plans and went to his room. He would spend time with people tomorrow, but today had really worn him out. He had promised Minerva that he would try to work on relaxation techniques that night before bed, so he decided that it was as good a time as any to start.

When he closed his eyes, his mind was plagued with a variety of images. He remembered clearly running into Neville at St. Mungo's last year, and seeing his mother come after him to give him an empty bubblegum wrapper. He could clearly see him tucking that piece of paper - paper that most would have considered garbage - into his pocket. He knew that Neville had treasured it... but now would do so doubly.

Harry forced his mind beyond that to the DA. The new year would not be an easy one... they had a lot of ground to cover. Not only that, but replacing four members... the faces of Hannah, Anthony, Ernie, and Justin flashed through his mind. They were all laughing or smiling to him... thanking him for his help with their spells...

"No," Harry whispered to himself as he tried to clear his mind again. He had to relax to perfect the animagus transformation. He had to, but his mind wouldn't let him. Before he could say anything else to himself, however, a knock at the door interrupted him. "Yeah?"

Ron's red hair was the first thing he noticed before Hermione - in her kneazle form - shot in the barely opened door to land on his bed. "Sorry mate, I just thought I'd let this little gal in. I know you're busy..."

"You know about the attacks, and Neville's parents, right?" Harry asked softly.

"Yeah." There was a touch of a pause before Ron came over and sat down on the bed next to Harry. "It's not your fault, you know that, right? Hermione did manage to drive that point home, didn't she?"

"I was a bit of a prat about it first," Harry admitted, at which point Willow hissed at him as she curled up on his pillow. "But we worked it out in the end. I know who's at fault..."

"Poor Neville, though."

"He's not going to cry about it," Harry said suddenly, cutting off whatever it was Ron was going to say next. "There's no way he'll cry."

"What? Why not?" Ron asked. "He loved his parents, even though their brains were... you know..."

"He's not crying again - he swore to me he wouldn't cry again, not until Voldemort's dead. I promised him that I'd join him then."

"He won't be alive much longer, Harry," Ron said with a grin. "Between the DA and the Order, he doesn't stand a chance."

_If you only knew, Ron..._ "Hey Ron... when next term starts, remind me that I've got something to tell you. You, and the rest of the Ministry crew, alright?"

"Why wait until next term? Why not tell us now... we're all here, right?"

"I can't do it... not in this house," Harry whispered, not meeting his best mate's eye. "But would you do that for me?" Ron nodded and scratched Willow's head behind her ears.

"I won't forget mate, don't worry." He then stood up and made his way tot he door. "I still think its odd sharing a room with Neville and Colin, ya know?"

"If you'd rather share with Luna, I'm sure I could talk to Remus about that, if you'd like," Harry offered with a grin. "Of course, he'll want to check with your mum first..."

"Good night, Harry." He didn't wait for a response before slamming the door shut behind him, though there was a large smile on his face as he shook his head.

/You don't mind, do you?/ Hermione hissed up to him as she snuggled into the pillow a little more.

/I'd be much happier with you lying beside me as yourself... I'd like to cuddle with my girlfriend tonight, not my pet./ Hermione obliged him instantly by changing back into herself, and immediately sat in his lap.

/Better?/ she purred into his ear.

"Without a doubt,/ he sighed. He then looked to her carefully. /So, how did today go? I bet everyone wanted to know how your holiday's been so far, right?/

/The moment I started talking about teaching myself a new language, surprisingly no one asked me again... not to say they left met alone completely,/ Hermione said with a soft smile. She leaned in a little closer to Harry and kissed him softly on the lips. /Actually, I spoke to Fred and George today,/ she whispered into his lips as she kissed him again and pulled him down with her to the bed.

/I didn't even know they were here,/ Harry replied, letting his hands roam over her back and pull her in a little closer, causing her to giggle appreciatively. /Guess I was a bit busy with Minerva, right? What did they want?/

/I asked them to come,/ Hermione admitted to him after another gentle kiss. /I wanted to talk to them about a couple of things./

/Such as?/

/Such as.../ Hermione stopped herself as she pulled out of Harry's arms just a bit. /Don't you think we'd be more comfortable in our pajamas?/ she purred to him as she started to sit up.

/Probably,/ he said with a grin. /But I doubt I'll be able to concentrate on what you're saying instead of on you.../

She swatted him in the arm as she giggled. /Then maybe I just don't have anything else to say tonight... sound good?/

Harry shook his head as he sat up next to her. /Actually, why don't you tell me what's up, and then we can get in bed together. Sound good?/

She nodded, but didn't start talking right away. Instead, she bit her lip as she often did when in thought, and then closed her eyes. /Are you thinking about talking in kneazle right now?/

/Yeah.../

/Just thought I'd check,/ she explained as she opened her eyes again. /I spoke to them about a product of theirs, actually./

/You didn't?/ Harry couldn't keep the smile off his face - if she was talking to them about pranks, what was she up to?

/Well, someone had to figure out a way for us to keep sharing a bed without being caught once we go back to school, right?/ Hermione said briskly, looking away from Harry. /And I wanted to speak to them anyway./

/Sorry, 'Mione. Didn't mean to upset you.../

She didn't say anything right away. Instead, she got up out of bed and walked over to the dresser to look for her pajamas. Once she had the silk pants and thin camisole in her hands, she looked back to him. /You didn't.../ she purred softly. /It's just been a long day. I couldn't get any work done in the library on those translations, and Ginny, Lavender, and Luna were great, but sometimes, a girl just needs a few hours to work./

/I'm sorry, Mione,/ Harry said almost instantly as he groaned and leaned back, closing his eyes to give her the privacy to change she needed. /I forgot to come up to help. I'll barricade the doors to the library tomorrow morning so we can work, but I've got to spend the afternoon with Minerva./

/I'd like that,/ Hermione said softly as she sat down on the bed again. Harry striped off his robes and set his dagger and wand on the night stand, right next to Hermione's. /It's great that everyone's here now, but I do like spending some time with you alone./

/The feeling's mutual, don't worry./ Harry laid back on the bed and waited for Hermione to snuggle in next to him. /So, what did they say about that product?/

/They'll have one ready by the start of term... and I'll be testing it for them./ She decided not to tell him that she had also spoken to them about the wizarding oath they had sworn on his behalf. They had told her that they would do anything for a sibling of theirs (not that they would admit to such a thing later, of course) and told her that in all senses of the term that mattered, Harry was a brother. How could she refuse to test a product she had asked for, especially after they told her that?

/Good night, Mione./

/Night Harry,/ she purred back as he pulled the blankets up around them. /I love you./

/I know./

* * *

The next two days passed into a relative routine. After spending a bit of time with everyone for breakfast, Harry and Hermione would then go to the third floor and lock themselves in, telling everyone that they were working on a special project. Ron had quickly covered Luna's mouth before she could say the first thing that came to her mind, and apparently she had understood and decided not to broach the subject later. 

After lunch, Harry would be in the study working with Minerva on relaxation techniques, and Hermione would spend some time with Ginny and Luna. Lavender, in the meantime, seemed to be a bit preoccupied with either Divination homework that she had been given by Firenze or watching Neville working in the kitchen alongside Molly. Although he was really a horrible chef, it seemed that working alongside the matriarch of the Weasley household was doing him some stroke of good.

On the thirtieth, while Harry was locking in the study with Minerva, Remus took everyone else to Diagon Alley for a couple of hours to do some quick shopping. Given that no one had really had a chance to do so beforehand, it was a welcome opportunity, and Harry had given Hermione access to his vault to pick up a few things for himself as well.

As for Ron and Colin, the two seemed to have reached somewhat of an accord. Ron was no longer breathing down Colin's neck every time he glanced at Ginny, and Colin was being a little bit more discrete about the whole affair. It probably helped that Colin wasn't a bad chess player, and didn't mind losing again and again to Ron - though he did come close to winning a couple of times before Ron really started paying attention...

While Harry spent after supper in his room continuing to attempt the animagus transformation - which everyone present knew about, but only a select few knew the actual animal - Ron and Hermione spent a lot of time going over Defense Against the Dark Arts books. Luna often sat in while reading the Quibbler, but she did offer a few good suggestions as well. It seemed that Ron had been thinking about the DA more than he had let on when he wasn't talking to Harry or Hermione, and had a few ideas about the groups Harry had made.

Since everyone had delayed Christmas gifts to New Year's day, it was with no great surprise that the household woke up quite early on the first day of the new year and were downstairs before anyone could say otherwise. All the students were especially quiet, though, and didn't wake any of the adults up as they gathered in the large study where Harry often worked.

"Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to wish everyone a happy Christmas, right?" Ron said quietly as he and Luna sat down on the couch together, leaving two chairs for everyone else. "And happy New Year, too."

Harry nodded as he motioned to the closest chair for Hermione. "May this year bring the end of the war," he said quietly, raising a hand into the air. His action was mimicked by everyone else, and he smiled as he sat down on the floor. With a wave of his hand, two more chairs appeared in the corner, giving Ginny, Colin, and Lavender a place to sit, while Neville had already sat next to Harry.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Ron finally leaned forward. "Sorry, mate, but I didn't get you anything for Quidditch. Figured you already had all you needed. But you don't have any candy left, so a quick stop in Diagon Alley two days ago cleared that right up," he said as he tossed a large box to Harry. He then tossed packages to everyone else, too. "Happy Christmas, everyone."

With echoes of 'Happy Christmas,' more gifts were tossed around to people, and then the yearly ritual of rip, rending, and tearing away wrapping paper began. To Harry, who had never been around so many people opening gifts at once, it was over far too soon. He had left his own presents sitting in front of him unopened as he watched everyone else's faces as they opened their own.

It seemed that Colin had put together a picture album for everyone present, taking pictures from his incredible stash as well as a few discrete ones over the holidays thus far. Looking down, he saw the wrapped book and knew that he had been included in that, too, and saw that Hermione was already looking through hers... tracing a couple of pictures carefully as she looked at them in amazement. Colin really was a good cameraman.

"What's wrong, Harry? Why haven't you opened any of your gifts yet?" Neville asked as he sat back, snapping a new watch onto his wrist. "Love the rememberall, by the way. Nice joke. The wand holster and training diary will help, though."

"Oh, no problem, Neville," Harry said with a smile, winking to Hermione who was watching him at the time. "You aren't the only one who remembers that little glass ball... but it looks like you might be forgetting something," he added, pointing down to the ball in Neville's hand. It was filled with red smoke.

Almost instantly, Neville looked over to Hermione. "Thanks to you, too, Hermione," he said quickly. "I know you had a hand in these. And thanks to everyone else, too, for everything." As he spoke, the smoke faded again, bringing a smile to his face. "If only everything were so easy to remember."

"Wicked chess set, you two," Ron said as he held up the obsidian set that Hermione had found for him. "Course, I'm still gonna wipe the floor with both of you..." He also had a wand holster sitting in his lap, though this one was from Ginny.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, mate," Harry said with a grin.

"Neville, these are beautiful," Lavender said softly as she held up a pair of ruby earrings and a necklace. "Aren't they a little much, though?"

"Never," Neville said in return right away, earning himself a little smile. "Looks like everyone got a wand holster, though. Great minds think alike, or something like that, right?"

"Are these what you two were working on in the library for the past couple of days?" Ginny interrupted, holding up a bound book of parchments. "Study guides for Charms, Defense Against the Dark ARts, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Muggle Studies..."

"We both figured you could use them for your upcoming OWLs," Hermione explained. "But it was Harry's idea. We got Colin a set, too."

"Yeah, thanks," he said as he started leafing through it. "Looks like this'll free up a lot of time for Quidditch practice."

"Oh, but that's not what..." She was cut off by a hug from Luna, which caught her completely by surprise.

"Thank you, Hermione," Luna said softly. It was the first time anyone could remember seeing tears in her eyes. "Thank you..."

"What is it, love?" Ron asked, startling most of them with the endearing term. "What did she do?" In response, Luna held up a book entitled 'Mostly Mythological Creatures and Where to Find Them.' She opened it, revealing scribbles in the margins in Hagrid's large print, as well as the fine, neat, tidy script from Hermione, and the elegant writing from Talisien.

"She believes me," Luna said softly, holding the book closer to her. "Thank you."

"Well," Hermione said, obviously touched herself. "You did take Ron on... so I felt I owed you at least that much."

"Hey, what's that mean?" Ron asked in a louder voice than he probably intended.

The entire group broke down into laughter, and then everyone turned towards Harry, who had yet to open a single present. It was only when Lavender leaned forward did he actually pick one up. "Ron, Luna, Neville, and I looked through a small little shop in Diagon Alley for your gifts, Harry. Odds and Ends for the Odds and Ends, or something. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to get you, but as I walked in, the perfect gift was sitting on the counter. Of course, Ron went for candy, but everyone else picked up stuff there..."

Harry set aside the gift from Colin that he hadn't quite opened to pick up the oddly wrapped gift from Lavender. He carefully tore the paper aside to reveal a strap of leather with a couple of slots in it. "It's a wand and dagger belt," Neville explained for Lavender. "So you can keep both handy without having to worry about them. It's got a bit of magic in it to keep them from being taken by those without permission, too." He then looked over to Hermione. "That's where Ron found that Quick Quotes Quill, too, Hermione," he added.

"It's not like Skeeter's. It copies directly," Ron explained at her shocked expression.

"Thanks," Harry said softly as he pulled his cloak aside to reveal the ordinary belt he had been using. Stripping it off, he attached the dagger sheath to the new belt -leaving the dagger space open - and tucked his wand into the wand slot as he wrapped it about his waist and did it up. "This'll work great."

"I managed to find something I had been looking for for a long time there," Luna said after a moment, pointing to the rather small box she had given him. He picked it up hesitantly, knowing that, it could be quite strange coming from Luna. Once he had opened it, he found himself holding a small green stone that seemed to be glowing just slightly. "It's an extra link for the necklace I gave you for your birthday," she explained. "It's a quinton."

"Er... thanks," he said with a smile. She might be a little strange, but she was thoughtful. He knew that quintons were supposed to be quite rare, after all. "I'll attach it to it when I go upstairs later on." He then grinned as he looked back to her, noticing a glint of metal on one of her bare toes. "Nice toe ring."

"Thank you," she said with a dreamy smile. "Ronald gave it to me. He said it's a promise ring."

"I... uh... meant for it to be worn..." Ron started, and then shook his head. "Never mind. Glad you like it, love." He was clutching a letter in his hand tightly, as though afraid to lose it. "And I intend to take you up on this offer, by the way."

"Great!" Luna squealed, making everyone else cringe backwards at the sheer volume and pitch. "Summer will be great with you along. We're supposed to be going to Norway again... but I might have to look through this book from Hermione first to see if there's somewhere else we should check first."

Harry then picked up the last package in front of him. Again, he had saved his gift from Hermione for the end. He had given her sheath for her dagger that Ron had found in the Odds and Ends store - he knew it to be elven make from the look of it. It actually surprised him how many people ended up going into the store, when he doubted that any of them had been in it beforehand.

He tore aside the golden wrapping paper to reveal a long cardboard box... one he distinctly remembered seeing hundreds of six years ago. He had just found out he was a wizard, and Hagrid had taken him into a little shop called Olivander's. He lifted the lid carefully to reveal a long polished wand, made out of holly - just like his current wand. This one had a small inscription near the base, which looked like a lightning bolt above the letters HP.

Taking the wand out, he felt energy rush to him as golden sparks flew from the end into the air with a rush of sound and power. When it died down, everyone was looking to him in surprise, Hermione most of all - though she looked quite pleased by the reaction at the same time.

"A new wand?" he asked, looking at it more carefully. He had expected it to react a little, like his old wand did, but hadn't expected quite that result.

"I know your old one still works, and you'll keep using it forever, I'm sure," Hermione said quickly. "But this one is different... it's got one of Rozan's whiskers in it as the core. It's so you can..."

"Duel with Voldemort," Harry finished for her, holding it up a little and holding it a little tighter than he had been. Unlike his other wand, which felt a little warm at all times to him, this one felt slightly cool, and much older than it really was. He knew that she had had it made recently, but the feeling of time was still present in the wand, given the core. "Thank you, Mione."

Hermione didn't have a real chance to reply before a creak from behind the group interrupted them. They all turned to find Remus standing there with a pile of things in his arms, Mr. and Mrs. Granger right behind him. "It looks like you all got started already," he said with a grin as he deposited the load in front of Harry. "These aren't all from me, Harry, so wipe that look off your face," he suggested. Harry knew that Remus didn't have a lot of money, and had been shocked by the amount he had been carrying.

Deftly, Harry stuck his new wand in his new belt wear the dagger was originally meant to go. Since he had done up the old sheath to the dagger, though, there was an extra slot which seemed to meld around the new wand easily. "Sorry."

"Albus asked me to deliver a couple of things. These are all for something he called 'your special project.' "

The eight kids looks to each other and then back again. "The DA?" Harry said in surprise as he picked up the largest package. He tore the paper off to reveal a large book. "History of Tactical Magical Battles of the Late Middle Ages." He shrugged and tossed the book to Ron. "Right up your alley, mate."

"History up my alley?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"He means the tactical part," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "And besides, the History could be quite interesting, too. Don't you realise that the Late Middle..."

"Not this early, Hermione," Ron cut her off. "Save it for when I'm awake... or better yet, when I'm having trouble sleeping. That'll put me out for sure."

"What else do you have there, Harry?" Neville asked loudly, cutting off the argument before it could begin. "Looks like a pile of little things that are all the same."

Harry shrugged and tossed a few of them to everyone to open. It looks like Neville was mostly right, too. They appeared to be small badges - certainly smaller than Prefect badges, but not so small as to be impossible to spot. On each badge, written in small letters, was a colour and a position - from green, red, black, blue, and white for colours, and first through fourth for position.

There was a small note attached to the white first badge, and Hermione tossed it over to Harry. "While not an official club, and still operating against the rules, I thought it prudent to have a method to identify yourselves to others. Rest assured that there will be no detentions assigned for wearing badges, nor any points taken for admitting to being a part of the club. This is simply meant to boost morale of the Defense Association." He looked up from the note and shrugged. "They look fine to me."

"This is something I've gotta talk to you about, Harry," Ron said as he caught the red First badge that was tossed to him. "We've gotta rearrange the teams. And not only because of... well, the obvious."

"Yeah. Tomorrow, though." Ron nodded and let the topic drop again.

Hermione gave her parents her chair and sat down next to Harry as they handed him another scrapbook. "Sorry it's not wrapped," Mike said with a shrug. "I'm not much at wrapping things. It always looks like a dog tried to eat it first."

Several of those in the room held their breath at the unintentional reference to Sirius, but either Harry ignored it or didn't pick it up, as he just laughed and opened the book carefully. He was in good spirits for once, and was looking forward to an excellent day, at least.

The scrapbook was only half filled. The beginning held pictures from Hermione's past, as well as her first Hogwart's letter and a few other parts of letters where Hermione had mentioned him. Hermione didn't seem upset by this fact, so he assumed that she must have known about it beforehand. Later on in the half that was filled, there were pictures of the two of them together doing various activities. Judging by the fact that these pictures were moving, they were certainly the work of Colin. There were even a few right before it suddenly ended that included both Harry and Hermione, as well as her parents.

He looked up in confusion at the sudden end of the book only halfway through, and Jane smiled to him. "The rest is blank for the future, so you can fill in your lives as they continue together," she explained. "We've discussed it with your headmaster, and he has agreed to let us take you with us on our summer holiday... if you'd like."

"Really?" Hermione asked in surprise. "I didn't think he'd say yes! I was speaking to him a couple of days ago, and he didn't even let on..."

Ron actually leaned over and hit Harry in the back of the head to snap him out of his shock, at which point he accepted the invitation wholeheartedly. Hermione was told that her gift for Christmas would have to wait for the summer... given that having Harry along on the trip _was_ her gift.

* * *

Harry looked down at the parchment after Ron had finished his scribbling. He saw that four names were written at the bottom, with a small note next to them. "Honoured members of the DA. They fought bravely, and fell in the war. They will not be forgotten." 

"Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, and Ernie MacMillian," Ron said softly. "I only really got along with Hannah... I barely knew the others. Not even Justin, and he was in my group."

"We'll mention them in the first DA meeting," Harry said softly, closing his eyes to ward off his thoughts. Everyone else was in the kitchen getting something to eat for supper, but Ron had pulled him aside. The plan was to start small DA practices in the evenings over the holidays, and he had wanted to make a few suggestions first. "I see you scrapped the red team entirely."

"I had to," Ron said with a shrug. "We did lose four people." Another tense silence followed his words before he shook his head. "And I wanted to include you in a group. I had to rearrange a few things to get people would could work well together, though. I hope Terry won't mind taking up a mix, rather than just charms. Maybe he could join Neville on curses..."

"So, I'm the leader of the white group as... counter curse?" he asked, thinking about which section each person was in originally. "Along with Hermione as our healer, Padma for charms, and Denis for curses?"

"I figured that you'd have to put Denis in with a strong group," Ron explained. "Given that he's one of the only members who isn't in the advanced class of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Well, him and Kailyn, but she's his grandkid, so..."

"Thanks for putting me with Hermione. I wasn't sure how I was going to work that out... but I wasn't going to be with another group. Just hers. Now I can blame it on you if anyone asks," Harry said with a grin.

"Ah, the perks of being in charge of tactics..." Ron said, wiping his brow in mock anguish. "No recognition, unless it's bad, and never knowing what's going to happen next." He then paused and smiled. "No, wait... other way around. Good recognition, and no one else knows what's going to happen next. No problems there..."

You're in green with your sister now? And Kailyn and Colin are still there, too."

"I had to go somewhere, and if it comes down to it, I'd rather be beside my sister to make sure someone's looking after her."

"So you're trusting someone else to take care of Luna?"

"I'd rather she wasn't a part of any group, but I ain't gonna tell her that. She's in the group of five, though. Second, after Neville as leader. Lavender's good at healing, too - second only to Hermione - and with Terry and Julia as well, I think blue's pretty much covered."

Harry looked back down to the parchment, mentally agreeing with Ron. If he had had his input the first time, it would have gone so much easier. "Sorry for not telling you about Mione and me," he said softly.

"Yeah, well... it's in the past. I'm still gonna watch out for her. You know that."

"And I'll be watching out for Luna. I doubt even she's strong enough to keep all of the prat out of you. I must say, she's doing a good job so far."

"Hardy har har," Ron said flatly. He then sighed and leaned onto their table. His mother had brought them both food as they were talking, but he wasn't digging in right away. "I'm glad you accepted her so easily."

"She helped me before," Harry admitted.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. With... Sirius," Harry said eventually. Ron paled a little and shook his head, as though trying to get an image out of it. "She told me about her mum. And about how, every now and then, her tears come back about her, but not for her sake. For everyone else's sake - for all those who never had a chance to meet her."

"So you know about her mum, huh?"

"Yup." Harry leaned back in his chair, picking up the parchment again. "But I'm the same way. Almost everyone out there still believes that Sirius was a murderer, and never got to know the real him. I'm not sure I even had that chance... so that's why I've got to keep going. I've got to prove his innocence to everyone... and make them all realise how sad they are for not having met him. How sad I am at not having him. Just like Luna's sad that we never met her mum... I'm sad that she never met Sirius."

After a bit of another stretched silence - during which time both ate about four sandwiches - Ron sighed and started to stand. "What do you think of the black group?"

"I think Dean's got his hands full with Cho," Harry said slowly. "But he's probably one of the only ones who can and will stand up to her without worrying about it later. And Susan and Pavarti are both pretty good at their own things. It'll work out."

"More work on the Patronus tonight, then?" Ron asked as the two left to join the others and head downstairs to where they usually held their DA mini meetings. They'd pass out the badges properly tonight.

"No telling when the Dementors are going to turn," Harry said almost casually, though his insides were telling another story entirely. "Then we get to worry about daddy Malfoy and all the others again."

"Azkaban'll hold," Ron said fiercely. "It has to."

Although neither said it as they joined everyone else, they both thought it at the same time. By the glances they gave each other, they both knew they had, too.

_Maybe it has to... but it won't._

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...  
**The Shadows**


	25. The Return to Hogwarts

Chapter Twenty Five: The Return to Hogwarts 

Ever since his very first train ride a little more than six years ago, Harry had always loved it. He couldn't really explain why if anyone had bothered to ask him about it - it was a combination of the relaxing atmosphere, coupled by the good friends that seemed to surround him. The fact that Hermione had practically fallen asleep in his lap hadn't hurt matters either, all told.

This particular journey was a little harder than oftentimes, unfortunately. True, his first trip was uncomfortable for about five minutes, until he and Ron had hit it off right away, but this was a different matter entirely. Although it was nice of Cho to offer the Head Boy and Girl compartment to him for the ride, it was made difficult due to the fact that this larger space meant the entire DA could fit within it comfortably now.

Of course, the fact that the Head Boy wasn't there didn't help matters very much - he had been one of those killed over the course of the holidays, and made pointedly clear the full reason everyone had gathered like they had.

It was far from comfortable, as many of them sat in silence or stared out the windows, unable to say the words that were obviously on many of their minds. It didn't take any effort in legilimency to figure out that they all wanted to hear his opinion on the attacks over the holidays, but it wasn't something he felt he could cover just yet. He wanted to do it in the Room of Requirement - their home. It wouldn't be right to do it on the Hogwarts Express, when the DA had never officially met there before.

Deciding not to face those he considered his friends just yet, Harry had closed his eyes and focused on relaxing. Ron - and Harry had to remember to thank him for it later - had told people that Harry wasn't feeling well thanks to something he would explain to them all later, and he needed to concentrate without interruptions. That had meant no one had tried to speak to Harry again for the rest of the trip - though Ron was accosted more than he wanted to admit, as were any of the others who had stayed at Grimmauld Place once it came to light that they had spent some of the holidays together.

With all this weighing on his mind, Harry found it very difficult to even start trying to relax. Minerva had given him a direct order, and had asked him to practice his relaxation whenever he had a chance - she had even provided a note that he could give to teachers if he accidentally fell asleep. This was a fact he was planning on exploiting in a couple of classes before he caught Hermione's glance, and decided against it.

He had not actually finished his animagi training just yet. Oh, he could transform into his lyra form almost at will now - though it did take a good deal of effort - but it was always accompanied by a bright white glow, and never lasted for very long. The only thing that remained was calming his mind enough to be able to pull it off, but he couldn't seem to manage it. There were too many things going on all at once, and even on the train ride (which he had always enjoyed before), such a thing was not possible, despite Hermione's closeness and scent wafting into his nostrils from her honey brown curls.

The welcoming feast later on had not been much better in his opinion. He had expected Dumbledore to do something to honour those lost, for certain, but had not quite expected to hear the records and wishes of the families from each of the lost students. In the end, Hogwarts had lost eight students, including the Head Boy Jonathan Bradley, a seventh year Ravenclaw who had served alongside Cho until the holidays had passed.

Dumbledore had gone on to warn everyone that dark times were indeed upon all of them, and to be wary of those uncertain. Harry couldn't help but notice how half the population of the school had looked over to the Slytherin table at that precise moment, declaring as one that they knew perfectly well who to watch out for.

_Splitting the students into houses... dividing to allow conquest..._ The words from the Sorting Hat's... well... speech, had come back to him at that exact moment, and sent shivers down his spine which he had been unable to explain. Surely if there had been anyone from Slytherin to be trusted, they would have come forward by now, right?

The thought that he had done nothing to help them lingered in the back of his mind with all the other worries that he couldn't seem to shake. He was going to have to do something soon, or he would burst.

"Hey Harry, any word on your broom yet?" Kirke's excited voice interrupted his musings and caused him to look away from the dancing flames that had attracted his vision in the first place. With both Hermione and Ron away at a prefect's meeting, he had found himself lost again.

"Not yet, Kirke," Harry sighed. Another thing that he had almost forgotten about to cloud his mind. "McGonagall spoke to me about it when we got back, and told me to sit tight. They will get to the bottom of it... and I'm hoping before our next game."

"You aren't alone in that!" Sloper said with a grin as he pulled his ally away from Harry again to play a game of Exploding Snaps. "We need the best seeker back on his broom."

"Yeah," Harry muttered to himself as they left him alone once more. In his robe pockets, he fingered the wooden box that held the teleportation stone again. He was sure that the corners would be worn smooth before too long. "Yeah," he repeated. His mind wasn't on Quidditch anymore, if it ever was even when they had talked to him. In the same pocket, he found his mirror and a small package that held several badges. He had split them up between himself, Ron, and Hermione, and he had another pack on his other pocket to give to Dean later.

He had scheduled the first meeting back for tomorrow night, which wasn't early enough, but far too soon for his liking anyway. It had been hard enough telling Neville about his parents - telling the entire DA that he had failed them wasn't going to be much easier.

He looked up as a lithe hand touched his shoulder, and found himself looking into Ginny's brown eyes. "It's alright, Harry," she said softly. He wasn't sure how she knew what was bothering him - or even if she did - but he appreciated the effort nonetheless. "We know that this is a war."

"I can't get their faces out of my mind, Gin," he whispered. "I just keep seeing them... looking at me... waiting for me to tell them how they can survive, make it out safely."

"You are only one man, Harry."

He nodded and brushed a strand of her red hair out of his face. She was leaning a little too close for his comfort suddenly, but he knew she meant nothing by it. Colin was sitting in a chair close by, and he didn't seem concerned by the attention she was giving Harry either. "I know."

He stood quite abruptly when the portal to the common room opened, and Ginny backed up again, sitting on the arm of Colin's chair and leaning down to whisper into his ear. Harry nodded to both Ron and Hermione as they came back in, and held a hand out to Hermione.

"Dumbledore's finally chosen the prefects for the year... but there won't be another Head Boy. He said that we need to honour Jon's memory by leaving the position blank for the rest of the year. Means more work for Cho, but she'll manage. The prefects will be announced tomorrow morning, but Cho'll be in for a rough time ahead, I'd imagine."

"Yeah, she will be," Harry replied, smiling softly at the sight of her, though it came out more as a grimace than anything. "I'm going up to bed, 'Mione. I'm getting pretty tired."

"Alright Harry," she said as she pulled him into a hug. I'll be up later, she purred softly into his ear - so softly that no one else would have picked it up. "I love you," she added in a normal whisper.

"I know," he replied with another tired smile before turning to go upstairs. He was glad that she was willing to break the rules for their sake, and he really needed to hold her right then. He hadn't expected the wave of guilt to strike him the moment he stepped onto the Hogwarts' grounds again.

Once upstairs, he took off his green cloak that had gotten more than enough questions already and hung it at the foot of his bed. Although he was sure he didn't need it at all times, for some reason, it's presence seemed to bring him a touch of comfort when he wanted to hide from the world. He then shucked his robes and climbed into bed in his boxers, closing his eyes to try and relax again.

It was just as worthless as before. He needed Hermione to even try to relax.

To Harry, it seemed like a very long time before he heard any movement at all - that being Dean on his trip over to his bed. It didn't sound like he changed at all before flopping down on his bed. Seamus came up almost at the same time, but seemed to take a moment to do something before joining Dean in flopping down on his own bed.

Neville and Ron came up a good deal of time later, talking in low whispers. They stopped as they started to change as though something had interrupted them, and Harry had to stifle a groan as a large object suddenly landed on his stomach. By the purrs, he knew that Willow had finally joined him, and he smiled to himself. With a barely perceivably motion, he lifted one hand and pulled his curtains closed instantly, casting a silencing charm as soon as he had done so. As soon as that was done, Willow changed back into Hermione and curled up next to him. He couldn't help but notice she was wearing her silk bottoms and light blue camisole again, and he kissed her lightly on the nose when she looked up to him.

"You okay, Harry? You went to bed awfully early..."

"I am now," he promised her, half believing himself. "I think I just needed to be able to relax and hold you in my arms, away from everyone else again."

"We slept together just last night, Harry," she said with a sigh, and then, realising just what she had said, tried to backpedal. "I mean, we slept in the same bed, not slept together - of course, we did that, but not in that way..."

She stopped when Harry kissed her, and she melted against him again, losing the tenseness that had gripped her after her words. "Sorry," she whispered. "I get worked up sometimes..."

"I hadn't noticed," Harry replied with a straight face, making her giggle.

"Alright you. If you were so tired earlier... get to sleep," she said. "Because you are not skivving your classes just to sleep!"

"Yes, 'Mione," he said automatically. He then grinned and closed his eyes as he felt his body starting to relax again. "You sleep too, alright?"

"Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

He waited just a moment before squeezing her just a little closer to him. "I know."

* * *

"It's true, Harry," Ron said with a firm nod, clapping his friend on the shoulder as he took a seat on the large wooden desk in the Room of Requirement the following night. "It really did happen that way." 

Harry looked up from the chair he had sat down in by the fireplace of the small, cozy space that the Room had provided for them this time. It was a drastic change from the normally large space given for training... but then, Harry knew that they weren't going to be doing much - if any - training today.

"He's right, Harry," Hermione offered softly from right beside him. "I skipped a few classes myself, even Arithmancy."

"And I skivved off Divination," Lavender offered.

"I missed two classes of Herbology," Neville added. "And Professor Sprout - while she might not have been happy it happened - commended my reasons."

"Grandfather allowed us all to skip Defense Against the Dark Arts," Kailyn said with a shrug, looking around the room. If was only the select few who were a part of the Defense Association that knew of her lineage and relation to the strange, mysterious professor. "So we were actually allowed then."

"You all skipped classes to try and find out where I had run off to?" Harry asked in disbelief again, standing up from his chair finally. McGonagall - Minerva as he had almost gotten used to calling her - had scolded his entire Transfiguration class for so many people skivving off in mid November... the exact time he had tried to hide from the world. "To try and help?"

"I believe that letter would have been easier to write - and sounded better, too - if you had used the Griffin quill that I had given you," Luna said in a dreamy whisper as she stared into the flames. "As it was, it didn't tell us to leave you alone, but was a plea for help. And we weren't about to leave you on your own."

"I actually gave points to students who offered to help," Cho said with a grin from her chair. "And you all know me - I don't give House Points to anyone but other Ravenclaws... but this was different." As Head Girl, she actually could give out or take away House Points, but rarely ended up doing so, though no one was sure why.

The Patil twins were both practically pacing at the back of the room, but when Cho fell silent and the only sound in the room was that of crackling wood, Pavarti looked up again. "We couldn't leave you, Harry. Not only do most of us consider you a friend... you are also our leader. What kind of group would we be if we didn't care about our own."

"So you all..."

"Whoever didn't skive off a class, please step outside now," Ron said in a loud, booming voice, startling the entire group. Dean and Susan looked up in surprise, and Terry and Julia both stopped in the middle of their near silent conversation to look to Ron. No one, however, made any motion of moving. "Right, see that, Harry?"

"Thank you," Harry said in a whisper. After the fuss they had all made upon his return, he had known that they had cared, but it hadn't really clued in until his transfiguration professor had actually scolded the class for skipping such important lectures.

"It's like Pavarti said, Harry," Neville offered, standing up to stand next to Ron. "You are our leader. If it had been any of us, we all know what you would have done - so why would we do any less for you."

Harry couldn't help but smile at that. He knew he wouldn't have slept, let alone ate, if there was something he could do to help any of those in the room. Over the course of teaching them how to defend themselves, the group had become quite close - some more than others.

"I failed as a leader," he whispered, sitting back down. Ron and Hermione both turned to him in surprise, and Luna actually started to stand away from the fire to turn to him before he waved off their objections, keeping the room silent save for his soft voice. "You can deny it later if you want. But I'm going to stick to what I said - I failed you. Because I didn't prepare everyone here for the dangers that were to come over the holidays, we are missing four of our own."

"Bugger to hell with that, Harry!" Dean said angrily. "That wasn't your fault, and you know it."

"I do," Harry admitted with a grin to both Hermione and Ron. "I know what happened wasn't my fault, but the fact remains that I didn't warn everyone of the dangers. Four members of the DA lost their lives over the holidays - times that are supposed to be revelled and lived in happiness with loved ones... not mourning the dead."

He stood again slowly from the desk, closing off his eyes so he couldn't see anyone for a moment, only hear the sound of their breathing. It seemed that most of them were holding their breaths, waiting to hear just what he had to say to them. It was a topic that, although still very recent, was begging to be covered.

"Yes, I'll say it, but I'm not happy about it. We lost four of our members - but we aren't all who lost people over the Christmas holidays." He stopped for a moment and looked around the room. Everyone was looking at him, and he once again felt like he was some sort of general, trying to boost morale in his troops. This time, however, it wasn't a task he shied away from. "Anthony Goldstein. He was a fifth year Ravenclaw student - I'm sure a couple of you even had a few classes with him."

"He was in our Charms class," Colin admitted, including both Ginny and himself in his statement. "He was usually fairly quiet, though."

"He was amazing in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Terry said softly. "He knew his counter curses like the back of his hand - you really taught him well, Harry."

"Before I saw him in action, to be truthful, I thought this group was sort of a joke," Julia said with a shrug. "I mean, I knew Terry could do charms before he started sneaking off one night a week, and I knew he was going to the same club he had gone to for half of last year. But Anthony... he excelled when given motivation."

"Anthony Goldstein, a fifth year Ravenclaw student within these halls, a member of our original white team, and a bloody good shot with a counter curse. With his death, he managed to capture four Death Eaters," Harry said solemnly. Ron held out a piece of parchment with Anthony's name on it, and with a flourish, signed it with the Golden Gryffin quill that Harry handed to him. Once the quill and parchment had been passed around the room, Harry took it and drew a jagged lightning bolt on the bottom and set it on the desk beside him.

He started slightly when he felt Hermione's hand on his arm, and he turned and took her into a gentle hug as he looked around the room. The entire group were on their feet now, and he was almost surprised to see tears in many of their eyes before he felt his own on his cheeks. Furiously, he wiped them away and looked over to Neville. Meeting the other boy's eye, he nodded firmly, and Neville smiled sadly to him.

"He gave his life for a cause he believes in."

"Ernie MacMillian," Harry said after a moment and once Hermione had calmed down enough for him to let go of her and step forward again. "A sixth year Hufflepuff student. He once thought... in second year... that I was something to be feared. Later, he told me he was wrong, but late last year, he admitted to me that he was dead wrong - I wasn't to be feared. Lord Voldemort is to be feared."

"Many of us shared classes with him," Dean offered. "He was one of a kind - stood out in herbology like dear Nev here, really."

"Made a great study partner," Neville admitted, closing his eyes firmly. "Asked me for help, he did. Not the other way around, even."

"He was good, too," Terry said. Only a few of those in the group weren't a part of the advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and that was a slight concern of his. Only one of those killed had been in it... which didn't bode well for those who remained out of it still. "A real wizz with counter curses, too. I never once saw him look anything up about them - I guess he really paid attention to you Harry."

Susan was crying harder than before now, but managed to get her word in anyway. "He thanked me... just before we left for the holidays," she stuttered. "Thanked me for convincing him to come to the original DA. Said it gave him a purpose, a meaning in life aside from just following in his father's footsteps."

Harry tried to speak to that, but found his own throat constricted, making such a thing impossible. Ron took over for him, and he flashed his best mate a thankful smile - even if it was a little forced. "Ernie MacMillian, a sixth year Hufflepuff student at Hogwarts, a member of our original green team, another great shot with a counter curse. He took down six Death Eaters as he fought back - two of which will never walk again thanks to the power of his bludgeoning spells."

Ron held up another piece of parchment now, this one with Ernie's name scrawled across it in impressive script. Kailyn vaguely recognized the writing as that of her grandfather, but said nothing. Even if she wasn't as close to everyone else as they all seemed to be, she was a part of the group, and touched deeply by their show of respect for the dead.

Once Harry had placed the lightning bolt seal on the bottom and returned it to the desk, he closed his eyes again before standing at his full height to continue. "Hannah Abbot," he said in a tight voice as his emotions threatened to spill out again. He had vowed to Neville earlier about crying, and he didn't intend on breaking that vow so early. "She was a sixth year student too, and another member of Hufflepuff house."

"I had a touch of a crush on her in third year," Ron said, surprising everyone and actually causing a couple of chuckles - especially at his indignant expression. "What? A bloke tends to notice a girl who's as kind as she was! I think if I had my hand bitten off by a hippogryff - or God forbid, a flaubberworm! - she would have offered her own to replace it, despite the fact that Madam Pomphrey is perfectly capable of regrowing limps... and bones, eh Harry?"

"True," Harry said with a small grin at the reminder. Trust Ron to always bring a touch of light to such a difficult topic. "She was one of a kind. We all are, really. She wanted to fight against the Death Eaters so badly... she almost kissed me when I helped her cast her Patronus properly last year." The mention of the mystical white protective creature caused a hanging silence in the air that startled him. "It was a dove... a bird of purity."

"The dorm room is so empty now," Susan whispered. "My house was hardest hit by the attacks - we lost three who were a part of this group, but seven others as well. Now, there's only myself and two others in the sixth year girl's dorm."

"Move in with the fifth or seventh years," Harry said instantly. At her startled expression, he continued with a determined voice. "You shouldn't feel alone in this great castle with so many others around you. Convince your dorm mates to move, and talk to the other years to work it out. Tell them I'm asking for a favour if they don't agree right away."

"You'd use your name for this?" she asked in surprise.

"I'm not planning on using it for an extra scoop of ice cream in Diagon Alley, if that's what you mean," he said, shaking his head and winking at Hermione. She was one of the few that knew the ice cream sundaes he had gotten during the summer between second and third year had been mostly for free.

"Thanks."

Harry nodded and Ron picked up the next piece of parchment, knowing that it was time. He didn't need Harry to tell him - he hadn't been his best friend for six years without being able to read him at least a little bit. He knew that Hermione could read him better... and he actually understood that now, thanks to Luna. He'd have to thank her again later...

"Hannah Abbot, a sixth year Hufflepuff student at Hogwarts, a member of our original red team, and one of the very few I would ever trust to cast healing spells on me - there's only really one other person outside of this room that I would say that about, trust me," Harry said slowly. "With her quick thinking and talents with other spells, she managed to subdue two Death Eaters, and make sure they could be brought to justice."

Again, Ron passed out the parchment to everyone. When Harry got it back, he wasn't surprised to find a couple of tear stains on it, and wished that someone would go to comfort Susan - Hannah had been a close friend of hers, and he knew it. Ever since he had met her aunt at the beginning of last year, he had started to realise just how strong Susan could be, but no one should go through a time like this alone. He smiled to himself when both Lavender and Ginny appeared beside her suddenly to give her quick - though somehow lingering - hugs before letting her on her own again.

As the crackling of the fire started to overpower his senses again, Harry cleared his throat. "One more of our ranks fell over the holidays. Justin Finch-Fletchley... another sixth year Hufflepuff student." He paused for a moment before looking straight at Susan, seeing the look of hurt he knew he would find there. He had no doubt that they all knew who had died before he had said a single word - Dumbledore had made that fact very clear during the speech after all - but giving a small memorial to each of them in their own way somehow made it more final.

He found himself wishing as he searched for something to say that someone had thought to hold something like this for Sirius.

"Justin was a character, all right," Ron offered after a moment of silence. "Strong as an ox, really, but he was rather kind most of the time. He could get into the rumour mill a little too strongly, as we found out in second year, but he's not the only one guilty of that."

"There are only three people in this room who aren't guilty of believing rumours," Luna said softly, cutting Ron off without warning. "Harry is often the target of the rumours, and so he wouldn't believe them anyway, and Hermione has never wavered from him in all the time she has known him."

"Who's the third?" Lavender asked, surprised by how astute the odd Looney... er... Luna Lovegood could be sometimes.

"I barely heard the rumours, so I never believed them," she admitted. "But can anyone else say the same?"

Harry spoke up before the silence became uncomfortable. "I don't blame anyone here for that," he said in a whispered voice. "Before last year... before the end of my fourth year and Cedric's death, none of you had any idea who I really was... the real me. Now, more of you know, and more of you question what you hear. Most of you came last year when everyone else thought I was barmy, right?"

"Justin had enough power that he managed to stun Professor Talisien for a good five seconds in one of our classes," Julia said after a second or two had past. "He could never pull it off again, but we could all tell that the Professor was impressed."

"He... he made a stand in the Hufflepuff common room for you, Harry," Susan managed to say, though it was obviously difficult for her. "At the beginning of last year, he said that anyone who had a problem with you had a problem with him, too. He actually challenged several younger students and two seventh years on your behalf."

Not sure what to say to that, Harry closed his eyes and thought of what he could of the large, strong, kind Hufflepuff student. He had no idea he had such a defender in another house...

"Justin Finch-Fletchley," Ron said solemnly, holding up the last piece of parchment. "He was a sixth year student in the noble house of Hufflepuff at this school, a member of the original red team, and could curse anyone and anything blindfolded. He helped in the capture of six Death Eaters before succumbing... and he paid for it with his life."

Harry closed his eyes as he sighed the parchment after it had gone around the room. Each of the pieces of parchment had several tear stains on them, he noticed as he put the last with them. Each also had small messages to the person in question from each of the members of the DA in the room. He took longer to put the lightning bolt seal of the bottom of this parchment, and closed his eyes, setting the magnificent quill Luna had given him down on the table.

"We are fighting a war," he said softly, instantly aware of having everyone's attention. This was the part of the speech he had rehearsed that he had been dreading for quite some time. "A terrible war where you often can't tell ally from enemy. Everyone within these walls, I would trust with my life. I can't promise you that everyone here will live to see the end of the war... I can't even promise you that you'll live to see tomorrow. Voldemort is strong and powerful... but he will fall. All I can promise you is this - if I could die in your places, I would be willing to die a thousand deaths for each of you. I intend to see the end of this war. I can only pray that you will all see it with me."

"We'll be there, mate," Ron promised, holding a hand to his heart.

"Even if he kills us... when he falls in the end, we will be with you, Harry. We will be right behind you," Dean promised as well, holding his hand up to his heart much like Ron had done. Looking around the room, Harry saw that everyone was standing in a similar fashion - a hand covering their hearts.

Closing his eyes so he couldn't see them, he raised his own hand to cover her heart, and felt Hermione's other hand on his shoulder. He reached out blindly for her and caught her around the waist, pulling her to him. "To the end of the war," he whispered.

His toast was repeated by everyone there, even if they couldn't drink to it.

The silence this time was broken by a very unexpected source - a terrible whining sound was coming from the fireplace, as though something was about to explode. Everyone turned in surprise just as loud, booming words in Fred and George's distinct voice echoed through the room.

"Umbridge is a git!"

"A slimy cow!"

"Come on, that's mean to cows!"

The entire group - save Kailyn who really had no idea what that was all about - burst into laughter, and Harry turned to Ron, clapping him on the shoulder. "Nice one, mate. I think we all needed a good laugh after all that..."

"I'm not their brother for nothing, you know," Ron said with a grin. "I can pull a prank or two myself - though apparently I've got nothing on you, given how nicely you popped it to Snape on Halloween."

"That was you?" Cho asked in surprise. "He was after Jon and I for weeks to hunt down the culprit, and he was convinced it was you, but we all saw you sitting at your place at the table!"

"Quite the stun, wasn't it?" Harry asked with a grin.

"I always preferred a nice sapping, myself," Kailyn piped up. At the confused looks cast her way, she giggled - a sound that they hadn't actually heard from her before. "I'll show you some other time... you'll know when it happens! I've got nothing on my grandmother, though. She's got deadly aim with the stuff... never been caught, either."

Harry's mind instantly turned back to the incident in Diagon Alley before school had started with Malfoy, but shook it off as he focused on matters at hand. Reaching into his nearly empty pocket, he pulled out the package of black badges and tossed them to Dean. Taking their cue from his motion, Ron and Neville both withdrew their packs as well at the same time that Harry pulled out the white one.

It was actually Ron who started speaking first. "Most of you probably noticed that I was a bit of a git at the end of last term..."

"A bit?"

He glared around the room, but wasn't sure who had spoken, so he couldn't reply properly. Instead, he ran a hand through his red hair slowly and laughed at himself before going on. "Yeah, alright, maybe more than just a bit. Anyway, my point is that I could give my opinion on the teams that our magnificent leader..."

"Ron..." Harry warned, causing a few of them to crack grins.

"Yes, our very own Harry Potter, overlooked a couple of key strategic points when he randomly assigned the teams. And, given our recent... losses..." All laughter drained from his voice as he paused on that word before going on with as much enthusiasm as before. "We redesigned the teams a bit. There are no only four teams, and we're leaving it at that."

"Over the holidays, Dumbledore sent me a package of badges to pass out to the members of the club - I'm not sure if he wants to boost morale for us or be able to tell who each of us are, but that's besides the point. Although we are sort of operating outside of the school rules... in a sense, given how all the teachers know about us anyway... we will not get in trouble for being marked like this. I think it's a great idea myself."

"So who are the new teams?" Cho asked. "And I assume those with the badges right now are the leaders?"

"Yup, and you are a second," Harry told her.

She nodded and looked to the fireplace. She looked a little more haunted than she had earlier in the year. "That makes sense. I couldn't lead right now anyway..."

"Right... Gin, you, Kailyn, and Colin are with me," Ron said, turning to his sister. "I'm putting you in second... just in case something happens to me, got it? Just don't get any ideas about testing out our brothers' products to get rid of me, alright?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Ron..." Ginny said with a grin and a sparkle in her eye that betrayed her actual thoughts on the matter. Both laughed as Ron tossed the badges to the appropriate people.

"We're the green team," he explained to both Kailyn and Colin as they came a little closer to him. "The badges give your part of the team, and are obviously in colour..."

"That is rather obvious," Kailyn said dryly, holding up the green badge as she took a close look at it. It looked to her almost like a leaf of some sort, though it was rather stylized, which made it a little harder to identify. All she could guess at was an oak leaf, and thought it made sense - given the strength of oaks in the forests. She pinned her badge that had the word Protection written on it to her green forest blouse - she hadn't pulled on her robes that evening before slipping out for the meeting.

"You're my second, Cho," Dean offered. "Susan and Pavarti are with us as well," he added as he tossed the badges to the appropriate people. "We're the black team."

"Fine with me," Susan said, clipping her badge to her robes. Because of the colour of the school robes, the black was a bit hard to see, save for the fact that it shone when light touched it. The black badge was a perfect circle, and had a faded circle drawn in the centre of it. Her's had Counter Curse written on it, and she could plainly see the Second/Charm written on Cho's without looking too hard.

"Right," Neville said once silence had fallen in the room again. "I've got the big team of five... guess that means we'll have the tough stuff to handle when it comes down to it. Luna, you're my second on the blue team. Lavender, I need you for your healing and protection spells, and Julia, Terry," he said, looking to both of them. "You're both with me too. Julia's on charms... Terry, we're giving you a mix to work with. Harry felt you were up to it, if you were willing."

"I wouldn't let the team down," Terry said as he gravely accepted the badge. It was a medium blue - it reminded him almost of a dark sapphire - and was in the shape of a drop of water. There was a slight shine to the badge, and he could plainly see Any written on his. It was short and to the point. He pinned it to his robes as well, glad to be a part of it all. He felt Julia squeeze his shoulder, thanking him for trusting her enough to have her join as well. He was just happy having her close by - he didn't really want her to go anywhere to fight, but if it had to happen, she might as well be well trained for it...

"Denis, Padma..." Harry said, looking to both of them as he passed the Second/Protection badge to Hermione. "You're with Hermione and I on the white team. I'll be leading you."

Denis seemed almost in awe as he took his badge, but Padma was a little more down to earth about it. "Thanks, Harry. You too, Hermione. I won't let you down... and neither will this twerp," she added, swatting Denis in the back of the head to bring him back to the real world. "Don't go acting like you and your brother used to now..."

"I just didn't think I was good enough to be on your team, Harry..."

"I said it earlier, and I'll say it again. I would trust anyone in this room with my life."

Hermione could only smile as she watched Harry actually accept his role as the leader of the group. He had accepted to teacher them before... it was only now that he was actually agreeing to lead them. The lightning bolt shape of the white badge made perfect sense to her, and she was glad that it stood out so vividly against both the black of the school robes and the green of the elven cloak.

Before anything else could be said in the room, a small chime went off from the desk, and Harry looked to it in surprise. "I didn't think we had been in here for that long already..." he said mostly to himself. With a shrug, he turned back to everyone else. "That's time for this evening. Any later, and we'll be risking a lot of trouble with teachers and Filch." He then smiled to them. "I'm glad everyone here managed to make it back... and I hope our service helped those who didn't rest in the peace they deserve."

To his surprise, Hermione took Ron and Luna by either arm before he could move to say anything to her. At his questioning look, she motioned to Kailyn, who had taken a step back and drawn both of her short swords.

"Right... I'll catch up with you later, alright 'Mione?" he asked with a grin, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek - ignoring Ron's pretend vomiting - and turning back to the half elf standing before him. "Take care everyone... you'll know when the next meeting it. Watch the coins."

"As always," came the reply as the door opened and everyone filed out. Once it was only himself and Kailyn in the room, Harry pushed back his cloak to reveal his wands and dagger. In a fluent motion, he pulled out his dagger and leapt forward to attack, watching her collarbone as he remembered her driving into his mind before the Christmas holiday.

She met his attack easily and spun out of the way, but didn't attack his exposed back. Instead, she practically danced backwards, working on mostly her toes - though half the time it didn't look like her feet were touching the ground at all when she moved.

Harry turned and raised his dagger into a move defensive position as Kailyn finally started to attack. He blocked the first sword easily - it was a direct attack, and simple enough to knock aside - but the second one was a little harder. He had to push off with his legs hard to leap out of the way, was the tearing sound of his robes where she managed to catch him told him he wasn't quite fast enough. Although he wasn't injured, it had been a close call.

This changed things. She had never tried to hurt him in lessons before.

Rather than allow another attack to come which could leave him injured, he decided to try and force his hand again. He came is fast and low, catching the sword in her left hand on purpose to try and force her off balance. Like the earlier time, she flitted out of reach almost instant, and then stopped.

The fact that she almost never stopped in the middle of a lesson meant this caught him off guard. The half elf didn't attack, however. Instead, she lifted one foot up and tapped the bottom of it with the flat of one of her swords. She then repeated the process for the other one. As soon as both feet were on the ground again, she lifted off it in another attack.

Knowing that he really had little chance of blocking both swords with her moving so quickly, he darted closer to her, parrying one of the two weapons aside with his dagger and twisting it around to continue his counter attack. The other blade continued in, but Harry caught her arm with his own forearm, stopping the descent a bit sooner than she appeared to have expected. It didn't faze her by much, though. Instead, she flitted backwards again and did the same thing - tapping the bottoms of both feet before attacking again.

The third time this happened, Harry actually started to think about what she was trying to tell him. They had had silent lessons before where she only taught by example... so what was it about the bottom of his feet that needed changing? He watched carefully as she came in, actually taking his eyes off her collar to look further down, trailing down to her feet quickly to find that she was moving on the balls of her feet - on her toes. She wasn't flat footed like he was (he had assumed it provided a firmer stance and better balance), but was almost on her toes.

He tried it experimentally at first. He was a bit less balanced, but he could move a lot faster than he could have hoped for before. When he started moving more naturally up on his toes like she had wanted him to, she smiled and backed away as she sheathed her swords with a small bow.

Harry returned the bow as he sheathed his dagger, and then reached into his cloak to pull out a small box, only to find that Kailyn had done the same thing. "I knew that these holidays were special to most humans," she said with a grin to him. "Grandfather told me so. You often exchange gifts, right?"

"Yeah, among other things. Spending time together is something else that the holidays are good for..."

"Could I give you my gift to you, then?"

Harry smiled and nodded as he held out his box to her at the same time. "Only it you'll accept this," he said as they traded parcels. "My gift to you, that's all," he explained needlessly.

They both unwrapped the boxes at the same time to find that they had similar ideas - Kailyn had picked up some elven candies for Harry, and he had gotten her some wizarding ones for her (a few boxes of chocolate frogs, some ice mice, a couple of bags of Every Flavour Beans...).

"I guess you told everyone on your birthday that I gave you candy then, right?" she asked with a laugh as one of her ice mice squeaked when she popped it into her mouth and shivered. "Now you'll at least be able to try some. I'd be careful of the red ones, though. They're great for warming you up on a cold day... but not so great if you are already nice and warm. Tends to lead to some... well, let's just say you don't want to imitate a dragon, right?"

"Thanks, Kailyn," Harry said with a laugh of his own. "I'll enjoy them... but I'll be careful of those ones."

"You could just call me Kai you know..." she said as they left the room together. "Most of my friends back home did, anyway."

"Do you miss it? The forest, I mean..."

"Sometimes," she admitted. "It's hard not living there not after being surrounded by nature for so many years. Remember, I may look eleven, but I've been around for a fair bit longer than that."

"How long is that, anyway?"

"You'll have to come to my birthday party over the summer to find out," she said with a grin. "Now c'mon... I'll race you to the common room!"

* * *

"Ya know, I should hit you for doing that to Hermione," Ron said casually as Harry entered the dorm room after getting back from his lesson. Willow was right at his heels, and Ron looked down to the cat with a grin as he waited for his words to sink in. 

"Doing what?"

"Spending all that time with another girl," Ron said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You know... Kailyn?"

"Oh, that," Harry said dismissively as he striped off his robes and sat on the bed. Once Willow was in his lap, he started stroking her back - pretending that she was an actual animal and not his girlfriend sneaking in. "She knows about the lessons, don't worry."

"Does she like it when you do that?" Ron asked, motioning to Willow.

Harry frowned and looked down. He had never asked Hermione about it, but she seemed content to sit in his lap and be stroked at the two talked. "I guess. I never asked her."

"You should. I can't see Hermione being too pleased with you if you don't." The bottom dropped out of Harry's stomach before Ron had a chance to go on, still grinning madly. "She's partial to her Crookshanks, isn't she? I reckon she'd be upset if you were mistreating Willow. Speaking of which, how does that orange ball of fur feel about all this?"

"Crookshanks is happy, actually," Harry said instantly. He had spoken to the half kneazle about it while still at Grimmauld place, so that he knew without question. Even when he ended up sleeping alone, he was alright - he never really was alone at Hogwarts anyway with all the other girls in the dorm room. "Why?"

"Don't reckon he's jealous or anything?"

"He said he was fine."

"Alright, alright, no need to blast me or anything," Ron said defensively. "Night Harry. Say goodnight to Hermione for me if you see her later." He then poked the curtain around Neville's bed, causing it to ripple. Given that they had all taken to using silencing charms around their beds, it was one of the only ways for them to get each other's attention once the curtains were drawn.

"Yeah?"

"Thought I'd let you know Harry's back," he said, motioning over to them. It was probably the fact that Harry was tired, but he would have sworn that the two were laughing at him about something.

Unable to figure it out, he shook his head as he pulled the curtains back around both him and Hermione - and she changed into herself almost instantly. To Harry's great surprise, rather than just cuddle up like she had the night before, this time she launched herself at him, capturing his lips with her own and pressing herself right up against him.

Once he found himself flat on his back with her on top of him - her hands roaming up and down his bare chest, driving him more than a little crazy in the process, she finally relinquished his lips for a brief moment.

You had your hands all over me a minute ago... she breathed heavily into his ear. And now I _really _want to return the favour...

Fine by me, he purred back into her own ear before turning her head to capture her lips on his own this time. Whatever had been bothering him earlier was barely a memory now.

He had no recollection of when they fell asleep, but he really didn't care, either. All he knew was that he was happy, and so was his 'Mione. Very happy, despite the difficult evening that they had faced earlier.

* * *

I'll be watching from within…**The Shadows**


	26. Forgiveness and the Unforgiven

Chapter Twenty Six: Forgiveness and the Unforgiven 

Harry and Hermione were walking hand in hand down the halls towards the breakfast hall when they noticed the first signs of something strange - there were students all through the halls, most of them looking quite pale, and several of them pointing at Harry and whispering to themselves.

"Harry! Hermione!" Both turned quickly at the sound of Ron's voice calling to them, and they turned in surprise to find him barreling down the corridor, knocking people aside to get to them as fast as he could. He had a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand, and Luna was right behind him with a copy of a special edition of the Quibbler.

"You read this yet, Harry?" Harry turned so quickly from Ron and Luna that he felt a little dizzy to find Colin running up to him with another copy of the Prophet in his hands. Again, he didn't have the chance to reply before three other members of the DA thrust more copies at him, and Hermione took one of them for herself to scan the headlines.

"Might I have a word with you for a moment, Mr. Potter?" Harry looked up blankly from the pile of papers that had accumulated in his hands to find their Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts standing in front of him, the hood to his cloak concealing all but his brown eyes, as usual. "Bring a copy of that news thing you have there... it is important."

"Sir, can I..." Hermione started, but Talisien shook his head to cut her off.

"This is something I must speak with him about alone, Ms. Granger," he replied easily. "If he choses to share the information with you later, then I will not fault him." He then caught Harry beneath the arm and started walking swiftly with him down the halls to the first empty classroom, students parting before them like water on a cliff, before she could make any other objection.

He motioned to two empty chairs, and Harry sat down without thinking about it. He and Hermione had ended up sleeping in by a few minutes that morning, and it looked like something big had happened in the news last night. That rarely meant good things, especially given how several members of the DA had come up to him...

"Would you rather read the article or simply hear what happened from me?" Talisien asked calmly as he took a seat across from Harry and took his hood down slowly. Harry looked up and found his eyes drawn to the scars along the elf's cheek, but didn't say anything. "How about you take a moment to read it, then?"

He nodded and looked down to the paper again, unrolling it and opening it to the front page. Glaring back at him were dozens of small pictures, all put together into one large, twisted mural of horrible faces. Death Eaters, all of them. The large headlines across the top thankfully drew his attention away from them.

**Largest Breakout in Azkaban History: Dementors Defect to Side of You-Know-Who**

Feeling sick without reading any more than he already had, he dropped the paper and looked up to his teacher. "Breakout?" he asked in a whisper. "How many in all?"

"Almost fourty this time," Talisien replied, his voice still relatively calm. "Including those captured at the end of last year."

"Malfoy?"

"Yes."

Harry groaned and cupped his head in his hands. "Why didn't they just give them all the kiss?" he thought out loud. "Why didn't they just kill them? Didn't we all know that it was only a matter of time before they broke out again?"

"You would see them executed, then?"

Harry looked up in surprise at the tone in the elf's voice suddenly. "Is that so wrong?" he asked quietly. "Do you have any idea how many people they'll kill on their own, now that they're out?"

"Could you kill them? Given the chance, no questions asked, could you do it?"

Harry swallowed hard and closed his eyes. The idea of being forced by destiny and fate to become a murderer already wasn't sitting well with him. He could barely believe he had even considered just killing the lot of them... that wasn't him. He couldn't even see himself killing one man... "No," he whispered.

"Good," Talisien replied calmly again. "Good. The taking of a life is never something to be taken lightly, Harry. You would do well to remember that."

"I know," Harry said quickly. "Not that that does me any good," he added after a moment. "It's not like I have any choice in the matter, after all."

Talisien looked at the young human for a moment as though considering him, and then stood up and turned around, facing the wall. "Let me tell you a short story, Harry," he suggested softly. "I'll skim over the details... but it is important for you to hear."

"A... alright."

"A long time ago, before you humans began to record your histories, and long before the time of magic wands, there was a great war. One elf in particular stood out in the war, as he was especially savage. It is reported that he would kill anyone who got in his way - friend or foe alike. And he did, too. Countless innocent people lost their lives to the edge of his blade or the power of his magics."

When Talisien's voice died down for a moment, Harry sat up. "Who was he?" he asked. "And what happened to him? Was he on the right side, or the wrong side?"

"That, young Harry, is not a question I can answer," Talisien sighed, turning back to him. "All I can tell you is what happened to him. He fought long and hard, and eventually found his way to the front of the great war. Under his leadership, the united races of humans, elves, and cat-people managed to defeat their oppressors, but such a thing came with a terrible cost. This terrifying elf who held so much power... he was killed in the battle."

"That's good, right?"

"No, Harry," Talisien said softly. "No, it wasn't good. Powerful and terrible though he may have been, he still fought for the side of good - even if it was for the wrong reasons. Vengeance is never the right reason to fight. But in the end, it wasn't his power or the fear he instilled in people that ended the war. Do you know what was?"

Harry shook his head as he wracked his brain for an appropriate answer. "No."

"This elf was in love, Harry. It was his love for a woman - a human woman - that both lead to the end of the war, and unfortunately his own downfall."

"His love killed him?"

Talisien smiled sadly as he shook his head and sat down again. "Some say so," he admitted. "But more likely, he was killed because of his power, because of the fear he passed onto people. No one else would fight near him... he was always alone on the battlefield. While he was a match that could not be beaten - or so everyone thought - he was a mortal elf, and eventually, a fatal blow was struck."

"What happened to the woman, then?" Harry asked despite himself. He really wanted to know why he was being told a story like this (and, to be truthful, part of him felt it was just Talisien's way of trying to keep his mind off the Death Eaters), but he couldn't ask that.

"No one knows," he whispered as he hung his head. "But do you see what I'm trying to tell you, Harry?" He didn't give him a chance to answer before he went on. "This elf believed in death and in killing those who stood against him. Anyone who got in his way, rather than just moving or avoiding them, he would kill them. Even though, in the end, he was fighting for a love that few could ever understand, especially given that he had slept with an elven woman the night before the final battle, he paid for his beliefs of death with his own."

"I don't plan on going to kill all the Death Eaters in my way, Talisien," Harry said softly, not meeting the elf's eye now. "I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to kill Voldemort, let alone anyone else, so you don't have to worry about that."

"No?" Talisien asked. He sounded slightly surprised by that. "Well... good. I assumed, by your earlier statement, that you thought just killing the lot of them would be for the best."

"If they die, then they deserved it," Harry said, closing his eyes. "But it won't be by my hand. I don't want to be a murderer, but I have no choice."

"Am I a murderer, Harry?"

"What?"

"You already know that I killed my own Dark Lord centuries ago, remember? Does that make me a murderer?" Harry looked at him in surprise - he had let that fact evade him, actually. He had never looked at the proud, noble elf as a murderer of any kind, even though he had seen him kill three Death Eaters right in front of him when they had first met.

"I don't know..."

"Care to take a guess at how many people I've killed, Harry?" When Harry made no attempts, Talisien smiled weakly and leaned back in his chair. "Would you believe four thousand, three hundred and twenty seven?"

"That many?" Harry asked in amazement. That was more people that went to Hogwarts... more people than he suspected he had ever seen in his entire life. "How? Why? And why did you keep track like that?"

Talisien shook his head and stood up again, turning his back on the student once more. "Those are difficult questions," he said. "A life is a terrible thing to waste - even if it is a life of wrong. There are many ways to be a killer, Harry. You could fight on a battlefield or in a one-on-one duel. You could sneak in someplace to assassinate someone, or pay for it to be done. You could demand a death for justice's sake, or you could slaughter someone in a blinding rage. There's always the whole self-defense thing, and then there's murder, as you call it - a planned killing for your own sake. Or, the worst of all, you could kill someone accidentally."

Harry said nothing in response to Talisien's point. He wanted to say something, to ask anything, to get away from the topic of death and killing, but somehow, no words came to him when he wanted them.

"How many different ways do you think I killed people, Harry?"

"Of those nine ways?"

"Yes."

He thought for a moment. "Four."

"Try eight of them," Talisien replied. "Almost three thousand of those I killed, I did so on a battlefield. I was a force to be feared like the elf in the story - though I fought with people, and not alone. More than thirty were through one-on-one combat. I have assassinated more people than I care to admit - though to be fair, they were all assassins themselves, and I was doing my job as a ranger (what you might call an Auror). I am a ruler, so I have called for multiple executions, and, let's face it, how could I not have faced a few attacks on my life that ended with the other person's death, given my position? In that position, I have also paid a few rangers to kill certain people - again, mostly assassins themselves, though a few murderers ranked high enough as well - though that was not an easy decision for me to reach." He looked away again and sighed. "And I slaughtered the group of thugs who raped and killed a close friend of mine's child. It was neither fast nor painless - just the way I intended it. The only way I managed to sleep that night was Fey's assurances that I was performing an act of justice... though it still doesn't feel that way when I think about them, begging for their lives."

"That's seven," Harry pointed out softly when Talisien trailed off and the silence became heavy in the room. "When did you murder someone?"

"I didn't," the elf replied. "Murder implies you are killing someone for your own benefit, and no one else's - I have never done that. I have, however, killed someone by mistake. That is the one death that I caused that still haunts me to this day... four hundred years later."

"I'm sure it was just an accident," Harry offered to try and appease the elf. "You didn't mean it to happen."

"And that helps, does it? 'Oh, I'm sorry I killed your son, it was a mistake.' " Talisien shook his head and stood up again. He seemed somewhat restless and off centre - he obviously didn't want to be having this conversation at all. "That wasn't going to cut it then, and it wouldn't do it now, either." He stopped suddenly, and looked back to Harry. "Let's get back on track, shall we? Why do you think I'm telling you this?"

"Do you feel bad about those you killed in battle?"

"Yes," Talisien said without batting an eye. "That makes it natural. I don't feel bad that I was protecting those I care about, and fighting for something I know was right, though. I did what was necessary. There's only one death I don't feel bad about, and that's the Dark Lord... Nogar Derm."

At the sound of the name, the room suddenly felt heavy and the torches that were lit flickered and died in a gust of freezing wind. Just as suddenly, however, the thickness of the air lifted and the torches lit once again, casting everything into light and shadows as it was beforehand.

"So... you're saying I shouldn't feel bad about having to kill Voldemort? That that won't make me a murderer?"

"Would you be doing it for yourself, or for those around you?"

Harry thought for a moment before replying. "Both."

"Then that would put you on the same level as those in the past, faced with the same difficult decision. I decision that I, too, had to make once," Talisien said calmly, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Just remember, Harry. When in the middle of a war, in the middle of a battle, there are two type of people at the end of the day - those that are alive, and those that aren't. You do what you have to to make sure that you are one of the first, and your friends are with you. Beyond that, there's nothing else you _can_ do."

"Thank you... sir," Harry said, standing and holding out a hand to Talisien. The elf looked down at the hand for a moment before reaching out to clasp it in his brown gauntlet covered hand. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Mr. Potter. Anytime," he said firmly, releasing his hand and pulling his hood back up. "Now, I would suggest you find your friends and your mate before they start... what was that term... 'going spare?' Breakfast is still being served, after all, and no doubt they will want to talk with you." He stopped again at the door and turned back. "Be ready for class this afternoon, Harry. It will be an interesting one."

"Sir?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Who was that elf, anyway?"

Harry could see the twinkle in the brown eyes beneath the hood of the Wanderer - and pulled up his own hood at the thought of it. "Well, Harry... that was my grandfather."

He didn't have another chance to ask anything else, which was just as well, given that he wasn't sure what he could have asked, really. The matter of the escaped Death Eaters was still fresh on his mind, and he still had no idea what they could do about it - if anything, really - so he did the only thing he could think of doing.

Rather than follow Talisien's advice, Harry decided to skip breakfast and return to the Gryffindor common room through any and all side routes he could think of. He didn't really want to deal with the crowded Great Hall, and wasn't that hungry any more anyway, so he figured it wasn't going to be a problem. He didn't have classes in the morning on Tuesdays anyway. So far the term was going quite well, as Potions had been cancelled on Monday, and Tuesday only held the one Defense class after lunch, so he could avoid as many people as possible.

He said the password to the fat lady (Destiny Changes), who nodded grimly to him and swung open easily. Walking inside in sort of a daze still, he barely registered that there was anyone else in the large, comfortable room before plopping himself down in a chair by the fireplace.

The startled cries brought him out of his reverie, and he looked up in shock to find Ginny pulling her robes closed tightly as Colin backed up so fast that he thought the poor boy might fall into the fireplace.

"H... Ha... Harry!" Ginny managed to squeal, her breath coming in short, fast gasps. "What are you doing here?"

"I'd ask you the same thing, but I'm not sure if I want to know," he replied with a grin. It was the first he had worn since Ron and Luna had first yelled at him that morning, and it actually felt good. "I suppose the better question would be why aren't you two in class, hmm?"

"Uh... we were given the morning off?" Colin asked hopefully. He shrunk back again under Harry's questioning gaze, and looked away quickly.

"Celebrating," Ginny said after a moment.

"Celebrating?" Harry asked in amazement. "Today? Gin, don't you read the news? How could you possibly celebrate today?"

"Well, excuse me, Harry!" she said back quickly. "I did read the news, yes, and I'm no happier about that than anyone else in the school save the Slytherins!"

"So?"

She pulled herself up in the chair across from him and slouched down in it before moving the sash aside from her robe to reveal the badge pinned there. Harry saw the green oak leaf badge for the DA, but there was also a larger silver crest-shaped badge above it with a small 'P' inscribed upon it.

"Dumbledore told us this morning during breakfast. Hermione and my brother knew last night, but didn't say anything - I guess the headmaster asked them to wait until today for him to tell each of us personally."

"Congratulations," Harry said with a small grin as he leaned back in his chair again. "Both of you, well done." His grin then spread a bit as something in his head clicked. "So, as your first act as the new Prefects for Gryffindor, you skive off classes to come up here and snog each other senseless?"

"You know, it sounds so much worse when you say it like that, Harry."

Harry couldn't keep the laugh out of his voice when he spoke next. "True, but you both had it coming. What if Ron came back and found you like that? Just because you two skivved off doesn't mean we all have to - some of us don't actually have morning classes on Tuesday or Thursday."

"We figured he'd be in the Great Hall for a while still," Ginny replied.

"He's talking to Neville and Dean about how to handle their teams with the Death Eater thing. He wants everyone to focus of the fact that, of the fourty who escaped, eighteen of them are dead already."

"What?" Harry demanded, sitting upright in his chair to face both of them in surprise. "Say that again!"

"It... it was in the Prophet, Harry," Colin ventured. "Didn't you read it through?"

"I skimmed the cover," he admitted.

"The second page covered how eighteen of the Death Eaters were dead when they landed on the shore. They were the full group that had been captured over the holidays... apparently, the Dark Mark was used to point out their location, which only means one thing."

Neither said it, but they didn't have to, either. Voldemort was not happy with their failure, and ensured that such a thing would never happen again.

There was a long silence before Harry spoke again, during which time Colin had taken up a seat on the armrest of Ginny's chair. "Ron's having the teams deal with this on their own, then?"

"Yeah. He said - only after Hermione suggested it to him, I'm sure - that we need the meeting time for work. Now that the dementors have defected to You-Know-Who..."

"Voldemort," Harry interrupted Colin, causing both of them to shudder slightly. "Alright, next meeting, I'm saying the name a hundred times, just to make you all stop being so afraid of the bloody name," he muttered under his breath. In a normal voice, he continued. "We need the time to work on the Patronus this time, right?"

"We did stop last year having just touched on it."

The memory of the house elf Dobby tugging on his pant leg and trying to tell him about Umbridge without actually _telling_ him about her came unbidden to Harry's mind. He shut the memory down before it could get to Dumbledore's ejection from the school, and simply nodded.

"On that note," Harry said as he stood up. "I'm going to head down to the kitchens for a quick bite to eat."

"Don't get caught, Harry," Ginny suggested to him. "Filch has been lurking around that painting, hoping to catch students sneaking in lately."

"I won't," he promised with a nod. "But make sure you follow your own advice." He smiled to himself as he turned to leave. "Oh, and Colin, you might want to make sure none of Gin's lip stuff's on your cheek by the time Ron gets here."

Although she didn't wear makeup persay - given that, in the wizarding world, such thing was done with spells rather than materials - she had apparently cast a charm on her lips that was something similar, as there were small lip prints all over Colin's cheeks. He didn't have to turn around to know that the boy was rubbing his face furiously in an attempt to hide the evidence in case Ron showed up suddenly.

* * *

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked when he suddenly stopped just inside the classroom to their Defense Against the Dark Arts. Peering around his still form, she couldn't help the gasp that escaped past her lips. Aside from the Wanderer - who she had expected to either see sitting down waiting for them or doing something of the sort at least - there was also a large glass tank that held an enormous spider inside. 

But it wasn't even the spider that had startled her. Instead, it was the cloud... or maybe it was just a mist... regardless, it was the shape of brilliant green energy that was hovering in the air in the middle of the room. Harry was looking at it with wide eyes, and she had no question as to just why.

This was the same brilliant green that she had seen for the first time in her fourth year, when the fake Professor Moody had cast the Killing Curse on the small spider. The same brilliant green that she knew could haunt her boyfriend's nightmares for the rest of his life easily.

It was as though the Killing Curse was just hovering in the room, waiting for them.

Ron's horrified gibberish was what actually broke the mood that Harry's shock had caused, and let everyone else in the advanced class enter the room. Harry, while still moving slowly, had followed Hermione as she lead him by the hand to stand a little closer to the Wanderer. He had told her all about what the elf had told him, and she knew she'd have to thank him later for it - Harry had been so worried about being a murderer before, but now, that fear seems to have left him, at least slightly.

Luna managed to guide Ron into the room after about five minutes of her coaxing from the doorway, during which time several of the others had a laugh at his expense.

"Voldemort."

Everyone froze - including Ron - until they heard the Wanderer stand up slowly and deliberately and walk towards them. He stopped in the middle of the room, just before the mist of green energy. It was then that he lifted a hand towards the door and it banged shut loudly at the same time as he lowered his hood.

"Does such a name scare you?" Talisien asked them in a hushed tone. "Does the mere mention of the name of the dark wizard that you are so scared of send shivers down your spine? If I said it again, who hear could stand before me and repeat it?"

"Voldemort," Harry said after a moment of silence. He wasn't sure what their professor was up to, but he wasn't going to sit back and do nothing at all. He saw - out of the corner of his eye, anyway - a couple of the others shudder slightly again.

"Voldemort," Hermione repeated, looking first to Harry and then to Talisien again. Like Harry, she had no idea what the point of this small exercise was, but she, too, wouldn't just sit back.

To everyone's surprise, it was Neville who said it next, followed quickly by Ron. Before anyone else had a chance to speak - though it didn't look like anyone else was even considering it - Talisien cut them all off. "Did anyone else notice that? Nothing happened when you said his name. No curses... no dark power... nothing. It appears that most of you would do well to remember what a mere name can do to you, the next time you wish to laugh at another's fear."

There was a murmured apology given to Ron, who laughed it off nervously as he looked back to the giant spider again. That one made Aragog look almost small by comparison, and it was hard to tell just how the elf had managed to get it to fit in the classroom at all, let alone subdued in a glass cage.

"So why is that spider here?" Hermione asked.

"And what's with that light?" Susan added, looking at the energy with more apprehension that the spider. She had seen the way Harry had looked at it, and if he was scared, then she figured there was probably good reason to be.

"I'll answer those backwards," Talisien said as he motioned behind him. "The green energy - or light - is actually a very complex spell taken apart. This is the essence behind one of the worse spells to ever have been created amongst humans."

"Avada Kedavra."

Harry's whisper cut him off, and he looked over to him and nodded. "Indeed. The Killing Curse. Avada Kedavra. Of course, this couldn't kill you the way it is now," Talisien added. As though to prove his point, he waved a hand through the energy.

Although nothing happened to Talisien, no one had really been prepared for the scream of power that suddenly echoed through the room. Hermione looked to Harry in surprise - he had explained the killing curse before as a scream of energy, but she hadn't though he was being literal about it!

"This is an incomplete spell," Talisien offered. "It holds a great deal of power to do... well... not a lot, actually. It does not hold the malice or hatred required in the spell of death. This is the spell you would cast if you attempted to use your worst Unforgivable Curse without the proper emotion behind it."

"Why are you teaching us how to cast the killing curse properly, Talisien?" Dean asked in surprise. "I mean, it is Unforgivable, right? It's not like we'll ever end up using them."

"What happened this morning, Dean?"

"The Azkaban breakout," he replied to the teacher almost instantly. "Where..."

"And what is going on in your world right now? What is the biggest fear of the wizarding world today?"

"It's the dark wizard You-Know..."

"Voldemort!" Talisien cut him off in a loud voice. "Voldemort," he repeated, stressing the name loudly. "Is the cause of your fear. Voldemort will not hesitate to kill you, or anyone else. _Voldemort_ doesn't care if this is an Unforgivable Curse, now does he?"

"No, sir."

"It's Talisien, Dean," the elf said in a softer tone before turning around and walking slowly - so they could follow his movement for once - to the large tank that held the spider. "But you are right. He will not hesitate. If you ever came face to face with him, most of you have few chances of survival. I am teaching you one of them today."

"If we can distract him from his hatred, then the killing curse won't work, will it?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Ten points to Gryffindor, Hermione," Talisien said with a nod. "But how would you do that?" A silence followed his words, during which time, the elf walked around behind the tank and tapped on the glass, drawing the spider's gaze. "If any of you ever figure out how to rob an enemy of their hatred, I ask that you tell me as soon as you can. It is a puzzle I have been working on for centuries."

"Then why would..." Pavarti started, but her sister cut her off.

"This is a theory, then, right?" Padma asked in surprise. "One that might give us a chance, if we can think of something, because otherwise, it's unblockable, right?"

"Ten points to Ravenclaw, Padma."

Everyone leapt back quickly when the glass in front of the tank holding the spider suddenly shattered. With a scuttle of legs, the tremendous spider shot forward, right into the ball of green mists.

The terrifying scream echoed through the room again as it took hold of the spider, and several of them ended up covering their ears so they wouldn't have to listen to it continuing. After almost a full minute, the spider collapsed beneath the cloud of power, writhing on the ground as though in terrible pain.

"There is a downfall to being hit by an incomplete spell, nonetheless," Talisien's voice sounded eerily calm given the screams that they had just been put through. "It will be more pain than many people can handle. But it is not fatal to a strong will." As he stepped out from behind the broken glass, he waved his hand towards the bright green light, and it vanished. Before the spider could move, he turned towards it. "Liate gadise."

Without warning, the twitching spider suddenly stopped moving entirely, and slumped to the ground as though made out of putty. When the class looked back to their professor, he had his hood back up again as though trying to hide more than just his identity - like he didn't want them to see the effects of the spell he had just muttered had on him.

"Now then, I would like everyone to..." Talisien stopped suddenly when a black falcon shot in the open window and landed on his shoulder. He turned to it, even as it started squawking to him. He tensed without any warning, and then screamed. Rather than the high pitched scream they had been subject to a moment ago, however, this scream was deeper, and held a terrifying anger and fear within it.

Before anyone could move, the Wanderer was enveloped in flames and vanished the moment the flames had leapt up to surround him. The entire group was completely still until a small clattering sound caught their collective attentions.

On the ground, where Talisien had been standing, was a small red and grey stone with a black symbol emblazed upon it - the symbol of Talisien. Ron was the first to recover from the shock, surprisingly, as he stepped forward to pick it up.

"This is the same thing that I found outside of Harry's house over the summer, and Dumbledore said was very good news," he said softly, turning to look at Harry, Hermione, and Luna specifically.

* * *

"And that's it?" 

"Yes, Ron. That's it," Harry said, looking at Hermione and Luna with a soft smile on his face. "Unless you count the part where the falcon called you an ugly git..."

"What?" It was amazing how easy it was to get Ron's face to match the colour of his hair still, despite how much Luna seemed to have been able to calm him down.

"Ronald, dear, I believe Harry was just joking," Luna's dreamy voice pulled Ron back to his senses faster than anything Harry could have said, and especially faster than anything Hermione had come up with.

"Harry?" Ron asked, stopping the four in the middle of the corridor before the Great Hall. They had been taking a short walk after the DA meeting had ended, and Harry had finally found the chance to tell them what the bird had said - and for some reason, neither Ron nor Luna found it odd that he could understand the falcon.

He sighed and rolled his eyes to Hermione, who swatted him on the arm. "All he said was that the forest was under attack by men in black robes, and Fey needed him."

"So he'll be alright?"

"Unless Voldemort himself is marching an army against him, which isn't going to happen. He probably just sent a few Death Eaters in an attempt to scare the elves. I suspect he'll find more resistance than he bargained for," Harry reassured Ron at the same time as reassuring himself.

Hermione looked up at the large clock in the Great Hall and suddenly blanched. "Harry, Luna, you've got to get back to your dorms! It's past light's out! Ron and I'll be fine, since we've got to do rounds tonight anyway, but..."

He nodded simply and stepped back so he was next to Luna. "I'll make sure she gets back," he said simply with a nod to Ron. Ron nodded in return, and then he and Hermione started off in the opposite direction of both common rooms before either Harry or Luna moved at all.

Harry turned to Luna, to find her staring back at him with her protubrant eyes. "Would you mind going for a short walk first, Harry?"

Although he knew that Hermione would likely scold him later for breaking school rules - she did most of the time he did, anyway - for some reason, he didn't want to say no to Luna. She seemed worried about something suddenly, and he wanted to do what he could to alleviate that concern. "Sure thing, Luna. Just lead the way."

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world... 

**The Shadows**


	27. Reflection of the Moon

Chapter Twenty Seven: The Moon's Reflection 

It didn't take long for Harry to figure out just where Luna wanted to go for their walk. He barely even noticed when she entwined her fingers in his and started leading him outside. She had told him of her retreat before, but now it appeared that she was actually going to take him there.

"Will you be okay in that thin cloak?" he asked quietly as a gust of wind picked up, sending his own cloak flapping behind them. "It is winter, you know."

"I'll be fine," she promised him. "If I get really cold, you wouldn't let me freeze, would you?"

"Of course not, Luna," he replied quickly. He wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but figured that he might as well let her set the pace for everything - she had thus far anyway. "I'll keep you safe."

"Thanks," she whispered.

As the two crossed the windy grounds, Harry's light green cloak seemed to become a little thicker, and his hood went up of its own accord to keep him warm from the chill. He'd have to remember to thank Talisien the next time he saw him. He wasn't as concerned as Ron was about the elf's sudden disappearance - in fact, neither was Hermione, which was one of the first things that set him at ease.

Hermione had told them right after his first retelling of what the falcon had said that he'd be back in less than a week. From what she knew of the elven defenses, the Death Eaters who were heading there now didn't stand a chance. All it meant was that they were without a teacher for the next few days.

That was actually what worried Harry more, given what had happened the last time Talisien was unavailable to teach.

When they reached the edge of the lake, Luna tugged on his arm to keep moving around it. Once they were clear of the wide opening and at the edges of the forest, she stopped and motioned to the large ironwood tree behind them. It was obvious that this was a place where someone had sat for quite some time in the past - the tree itself seemed to almost have developed a curve for her.

Harry sat down first at her insistence, and then she sat down next to him, leaning into him for his warmth. "This doesn't bother you, does it?" she asked. "I'm not getting closer than I should?" She sounded worried suddenly, but Harry shook his head.

"No, it's fine," he reassured her. "Your cold, and I'm not. This works well to fix that, right? Besides, Hermione trusts me for good reason."

"Thank you, Harry," she whispered again.

The two sat in comfortable silence for almost half an hour before Harry really started to look around at their surroundings. Aside from being on the edge of the forest - which was oddly quiet that night - the lake was quite calm as well. The large full moon overhead reminded him of his godfather, who was probably locked away in his small cell at home.

Home. That word still sounded odd, even in his thoughts, when thinking about good things. He knew Lupin was going through a rough time right now with the moon and all, but he knew he was probably happier than he had been in a long time. He had work to do and a place to live, and was looking forward to having Harry back for the beginning of the summer, too.

As he looked back down from the night sky, he saw the same thing mirrored back to him from the surface of the lake. The few ripples of the water gave the lunar spectacle an almost eerie look, but it wasn't disconcerting, really.

"Do you think Ronald really cares for me?"

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. He hadn't expected that to be an issue with Luna at all. "Of course he does. Even if I didn't know him as well as I do, I'd have no question that he doesn't only care for you - to him, you are his world. Just look at how much he's calmed down with you around."

"But he's changing for me. Isn't that wrong? Shouldn't he be able to change at his own rate? I feel like I'm forcing him to be someone he's not just for me."

He looked down to find her silvery-grey eyes moist with unshed tears, and he pulled her a little closer to him despite himself. It was a look he had never really seen in her - not even when she spoke of her lost mother - and it was a look he had no interest in seeing ever again. He vowed to himself again that if Ron did anything to hurt her, he'd have to return the favour tenfold.

"Ron is growing up," Harry said after a moment of trying to figure out what to say. "To say he's changing for you wouldn't really be right... but he's changing because of you. I think he wants to become a wizard that you could be proud of, while still keeping that craziness that makes him Ron. He's still the one to crack the jokes and make all of us laugh, but he can be serious and doesn't complain when he would have before." He then shrugged and grinned despite himself. "Besides, you're actually one of the few people around who Ron doesn't have to change a lot for to be appreciated. You like his quirks."

Luna had to admit that was true, but didn't say anything for a few minutes. Finally, she looked up to him again. "He believes in you now," Luna offered quietly. "I know when he thought you slipped your name in the goblet hurt you terribly, and so does he. He told me that nothing will ever make him do that again. He trusts you more than he trusts himself now."

"And I think he trusts you even more - he's given you his heart after all."

"He has?" To his amusement, she started looking through the pockets of her robes. "He'll need that back, really. Without it, I'm not sure how long he can last."

He caught one of her hands in his own to stop her, and managed to surpress his chuckles at her antics - he knew that she was actually being serious, which was one of the things that intrigued him about her. "It's a figure of speech," he told her calmly. "Like how Hermione has my heart, and I have hers. It just means that two people care for each other more than anything else. It's one of those things that makes it so you don't want to do anything to disappoint the other, but at the same time you want to be yourself to keep them happy."

"Thank you, Harry," she said softly as he released her hand and she relaxed a bit more against him. He thought suddenly that this position would probably look rather suspect to anyone who happened upon them, but for whatever reason, that thought didn't bother him. He knew that Hermione trusted him completely - just like he trusted her - and he was sure that Ron wouldn't jump down either of their throats either (at least, not after he heard what the conversation had been about thus far).

"You're saying that a lot tonight," he said with a chuckle, finally letting it out after holding it for so long. "But don't worry about it. Just consider this one of my lesser 'saving-people-thing.' "

"So you've accepted that fact, have you?" she asked with a grin. "Not going to get mad the next time someone suggests that might be driving you into doing something stupid?"

"I wouldn't go that far," he said with a broad smile. "But I'm not about to sit back and let anything happen to my friends if I can help it."

They sat in the comfortable silence for another few minutes before Harry started to think that they should probably start to head back soon. Ron and Hermione's rounds would be over before too long, and if Ron - or more likely Hermione - realised that he wasn't in his bed yet, then there'd probably be a bit of a panic.

"Can you fly on your own now, or did you just gain the ability to talk any language?"

"Oh, I can't actually fly. Hermione suggested I try it to find out - just in case I ever decided to jump for the snitch again - but I can't. I do seem to fall a lot slower now, almost like I'm floating, so I guess..." he trailed off suddenly as he looked down to her again. No one was supposed to know that he was a magical animagus, but the question she had asked made it obvious she knew more than she was letting on. "Alright, what tipped you off?"

"To the fact that you are a lyra animagus, or the fact that Hermione is that cute kneazle Willow?"

Harry tensed beneath her instantly at the accusation. He hadn't expected them to be caught so bloody early on in things. He had no doubt it would happen eventually, but... "You know about Willow?"

"Don't worry," she promised him quickly, apparently sensing his fear. "I didn't tell anyone, and I don't plan on it. I was just curious. I find it simply amazing that both of you managed to become magical animagus. They are really rare, you know."

"Yeah," he said absentmindedly. He was trying to figure out just what had tipped her off, but nothing was coming to mind, and she didn't seem too likely to just come out and tell him. "Last registered one could turn into a basilisk."

"I bet there's quite a few non-registered ones, though. Since so many of the abilities seem to transfer over and all..." She looked back out to the lake and sighed. "I can't be burned by any amount of heat now."

"That's good news," Harry said before catching himself. "Why not?"

"Oh, I'm a magical animagus too... at least I will be, once I can convince myself to relax enough, that is. I find listening to my own heartbeat does an excellent job, though listening to Ron's works even better. I somehow doubt that would be much help to you, though."

An involuntary shudder went down Harry's spine, causing Luna to laugh suddenly. "I think I'd rather listen to Hermione's," he replied. "But..."

"I know why I'm a magical one, and I have a pretty good idea about why you are, too. Hermione... she's a complete mystery. Sometimes, magics aren't meant to be explained, though." When Harry said nothing, she decided to keep going. "You have an overabundance of magical energy in you, thanks to your scar and what Voldemort did to you as an infant." The name just rolled off her tongue, and Harry couldn't help but notice - with a touch of pride - that another member of the DA seemed to be unaffected by it. He should have known Luna would be rather early on in the affair.

"So what about you?"

"My mother." Luna's voice had dropped down to a whisper, and Harry tightened his hold around her shoulder to try and provide a little comfort. "The experiment that killed her, I never told you what it was about, did I?" When Harry shook his head, she shuddered a bit - though of tired nerves or surpressed sob, he wasn't sure which. "She was trying to ensure I would have an interested animagus form. We decided on heliopaths."

"It worked, then?" Harry asked as quietly as he could.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Mum just didn't survive it."

"I'm sorry, Luna."

"I'll see her again, Harry. Just like you'll see Sirius Black again."

* * *

"Hermione, just stop for a minute and let me answer!" Ron shouted into the empty Great Hall corridor to get Hermione to stop. Ever since they had started on their rounds, she had been talking a mile a minute, trying to get Ron's opinion on something - though by this time, he wasn't entirely sure he knew what that was. "Could you narrow it down to a few words or less?" 

He turned to his bookworm friend to find tears in her eyes as she turned away from him. "I think Harry's scared of me."

"Right," Ron said firmly. "If he's scared of you, I'll not only sit and eat at the Slytherin table for the rest of the year, I'll start taking baths with Draco Malfoy." Hermione couldn't help but giggle a little at his answer, which in turn made him feel a little better about the whole thing. "Now, how about you start over? Why would you possibly think he's scared of you?"

"Well, to start off with, he didn't sit to study with me much at all over the holidays. After New Years, he'd make it a point to sit at a different table to do his work unless he was helping me with translations," she explained. "And he's still very hesitant to make any show of affection when there are a lot of people around, and..."

Ron cut her off again, much to his own surprise, before she could go any further. "This is Harry we're talking about, right?" he asked. Knowing Hermione as well as he did, he didn't give her a chance to answer - as that would mean he'd lose his train of thought by the time he could speak again - before going on again. "Of course it is. Now, in all the time we've known him, when did he ever like being the centre of attention? Do I really have to answer that for you, Hermione? You've always been the smart one out of us... if you start to change that now, then I'd say we're doomed, because there's no way I can even lift half the books you've read, let alone get through them in my lifetime!"

She recognized his attempt at humour, but didn't really react to it. She needed a serious answer from him. "What about the studying, then?"

"He's a guy, Hermione."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if he were to sit right next to you - or have you in his lap, as I've seen you do once already, by the way - then there's no way his mind would be on his schoolwork at all. It would be on..." he trailed off then, not really wanting to admit to anything like that. He had just about treated her like 'one of the guys' again, and he knew she didn't always appreciate that.

"On what?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Ron asked in surprise. "His mind would be on what's under your robes, not what's on the parchment!" Hermione let out a soft 'oh,' of surprise, and Ron couldn't help but chuckle. " 'Oh,' is right. What did you think, he didn't want to be close to you? Well obviously he does, but if he is when you've asked him to study, then he'd let you down by not studying. But now when he's not with you, he's letting you down and you get upset. You realise this is the kind of situation that guys usually call buggered up, right? Harry can't win here, can he?"

This time, she couldn't help but laugh. He was right, and she knew it, and she actually felt a little embarrassed that she hadn't picked up on that fact. She made a note to thank Luna again for helping calm Ron down - last year at this time, he probably would have had a riot laughing at her stupidity.

"Then why can't he tell me he loves me?" The question escaped before she could stop it, and all humour drained from Ron's face as he looked back to her. "I've told him more times than I can count, but he's never said it to me. Not once!"

"Remind me to crack him a new one when I see him next, alright?" Ron muttered under his breath, not sure if he meant it or not. "He does, you know. There's no way he can't. I know that look in his eye when he looks at you - it's not just lust or anything (though I can't promise there's never any of that there, too...) - but it's the same look that I have when I look at Luna. She's my world, Hermione. Everything."

"Have you told her?"

"So often I thought she'd be sick of hearing it by now."

"And she's told you, too."

"Yeah," he said softly before snapping himself back to the matter at hand. "Look, I warned you that if I have to do the thinking for both of us, that we were in trouble, right?" Again, he didn't give her a chance to reply before going on. "Why do you think he hasn't said it yet? But before you answer, consider what I just said. He does love you, Hermione. And so help me, the next time I see him... for hurting you like this..."

"Don't hurt him, Ron," Hermione said quickly.

"Truthfully..." Ron said slowly. "I'm not sure if I could anymore. But that doesn't mean I won't try if I have to! He..."

"Loves me," Hermione cute him off. "But he can't say it because he thinks that by admitting it out loud, I would be in more danger. He admitted that he loved Sirius like a father, and look what happened to him. If he admits it to me, maybe he thinks I'll be taken from him, too!"

Ron looked at her for a moment before breaking down into laughter. "And to think all it took for you to figure that out was me threatening to attack him the next time I saw him!" he laughed. "I wonder what actually attacking him would do!"

"Try it and find out," Hermione said with a grin. "I suspect I may have to use that curse I found the other day... do you think Luna would find you cute with rabbit ears?"

"Alright, alright," Ron said quickly, mirth still bright in his eyes. "Let's get back to the dorm. Our rounds are done now anyway, and we couldn't find anyone out of bed."

The walk back to the Gryffindor common room was filled with Ron needling Hermione about how obvious things between her and Harry were, and how she was completely oblivious to it, as usual. It was taking a great deal of restraint on her part not to curse him from behind... but she didn't want to risk getting in trouble.

They separated in the common room as Ron went upstairs. Hermione stayed down next to the fire for all of a minute or two - just to give Ron time to change before she went up to join Harry as Willow - before he came barrelling downstairs again, a shimmering cloak in one hand and a scrap of old parchment in the other.

"C'mon!" he said quickly, throwing the invisibility cloak over them both as he hauled her to her feet. He didn't even stop to consider that it was longer and bigger now than it had been in the past before pulled her out of the dorm.

"What's going on?" she hissed, well aware that this time out, they certainly could get in trouble if they ran into Filch or his cat - or worse yet, the Wanderer. She knew he could spot them, despite the cloak.

"Look at this!" Ron whispered fiercely, shoving the old parchment beneath her nose. She forced him to stop so she could look down at the Marauder's Map. It took her very little time to figure out what he was pointing to - the two dots next to the lake labelled Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood. "I thought I asked him to take her to her dorm, not take her to the lake to do..."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Hermione snapped in a hushed voice. "Have a little faith!"

"Yeah, but..."

"But nothing!" she cut him off. "Didn't you just spend a short time ago reassuring me about Harry's feelings for me? And didn't you spend most of that comparing Harry's feelings for me to yours for Luna? So what's the problem?"

"The problem is figuring out how I'm going to kill him if he's had his hands on my girl..." Ron said darkly. It was a long time since she had seen the jealous streak from Ron, but it was something she was used to from the past.

"Can you let Harry cast a lumos spell first?" she asked, trying to come up with a way to convince him. She knew that, despite how bad it may have looked, she had to calm Ron down. She wasn't concerned herself. "Before you jump to any other conclusions?"

"And just what good would that do?"

"I told you about the oath he swore, didn't I?" she hissed as they stepped out into the cold winds. She was never happier to be wearing the elven cloak around her shoulders, but she was sure Ron was probably a bit cold - not that he would admit to it. "That Harry would reject any girl who tried to get close to him except me?"

"He swore what?" Ron asked in surprise, stopping halfway to the lake. "Seriously?"

"If he can't cast a spell, then you can deal with that then," she said confidently. She trusted him completely - simply because she _knew_ Harry. Knew him better than she knew herself, better than her parents, better than anyone.

"He'd be a squib..."

"Or less," Hermione said, urging him to keep moving again. She really wanted to curl up with Harry again, but that wasn't possible until she got back inside with him. "Now c'mon. Let's go get them both inside. They'll get in trouble without the help of this cloak."

Hermione and Ron stopped a few feet away from Harry and Luna. Luna was curled up next to Harry, leaning against him, and Harry had one arm around her - either for protection or warmth, it was hard to say. To their surprise, Harry looked up and directly at them, despite the fact that they were under the invisibility cloak.

"You two sure are loud coming down here. It's a wonder you didn't wake Luna," he said calmly. "Speaking of which, any chance of you giving me a hand here, Ron? Like picking her up, maybe? I didn't want to wake her."

Hermione pulled the cloak off both of them. "How did you know it was us?"

"I heard you bickering," Harry said with a grin. "Talisien told me that I should start listening more. You'd be surprised what sounds echo off the lake."

"Cast the spell, Harry," Ron deadpanned, looking down at how comfortable Luna looked. "I'll pick her up then."

"I thought we were passed that, Ron," Harry said with a sigh. Despite that, however, he reached down to his belt and pulled out his normal wand. "Lumos." He wasted no time in uttering the counter - "Nox." - before tucking his wand away again. The bright light was proof enough. "Happy now? Have a little faith. She wanted to talk to me about you, anyway," he added as Ron picked her up gently and she snuggled into his arms, despite the fact she was asleep. "Wanted assurance that you loved her and all that."

"What a coincidence," Ron muttered, looking over to Hermione with a grin to find a small blush on her face. Surprising himself yet again that night, he let it drop, even though Harry hadn't heard the comment. "C'mon. Let's get back inside. It's freezing out here... don't know how you two stood it for so long."

"It's the cloak," Harry said with a shrug as he accepted Hermione's hand to get back on his feet. "But you're right, it is cold out here. I'm looking forward to our warm beds - that tree trunk is a little hard for my liking."

It was either good luck or very good forethought that let the cloak cover all of them at once, including Ron while he was carrying the diminutive Luna in his arms. Harry made a note to himself that he would have to thank Fey for thinking of the cloak later.

As they made their way through the corridors, they passed by the Great Hall and Harry lifted a hand to wave to Talisien and Kailyn, who were inside practicing. Despite the fact that they couldn't be seen, Talisien lifted a hand in return, confirming Hermione's suspicions, but thankfully, the Wanderer did nothing else.

After successfully avoiding Mrs. Norris in the western part of the castle, Ron ended up waking Luna to have her go into her own common room so she could go to her bed. She gave him a chaste kiss and winked to both Harry and Hermione before heading in. The trio then made their way back to their own common room, easily dodging past Snape, who seemed to be prowling the halls again looking for students.

Once they were inside, Ron turned to wish Hermione a good night, and then started up the staircase. He wasn't even on the second step before Hermione had turned into Willow to follow Harry. Harry's heart almost stopped when Ron turned to speak to him on the steps, thanking him for keeping Luna company and reassuring her about their relationship.

"I guess she really is like a sister to you, huh?"

"Just like Hermione to you," Harry said with a nod. He opened the door for Willow first, and then motioned Ron through before closing the door behind him. "Good night, Ron."

"Night you two," Ron said in response, starting to pull his curtains closed even before he had started to change.

"Two?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yeah..." Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Or did you forget that kneazle lying on your pillow?" He gave Harry no chance to reply before closing his curtains, though Harry couldn't help but notice the grin on his face, as though he was sharing some private joke. He'd have to ask him about it later.

For the moment, however, all he had to worry about was getting ready for bed. He pulled off his cloak and robes before joining Willow, and then pulled his own curtains closed so she could change back into Hermione again.

/That was awfully risky, changing so early like that,/ Harry purred to her as she sat up on the bed. She was still dressed in her robes. /What if Ron had turned around and caught you as you changed?/

/He wouldn't,/ she purred in return. /Have you cast the silencing and privacy charms yet?/ she added, looking back to him before he could question her further on the matter.

/I do it as soon as they're closed now./

/Good,/ she mewed softly to him. /The fake me is in my bed already, too./ She said nothing else as she started to undo her sash on her robes.

/Uh.../ Harry turned away from her quickly, assuming she would want him to. /Sorry, I should have thought to bring you something to change into.../

/Who says I wanted anything?/ she hissed into his ear, making him turn back quickly to her. She had already peeled away her robes, and was now sitting on his bed in just her bra and knickers, looking a little concerned suddenly at his scrutiny.

Harry felt his mouth go dry at the sight, and unconsciously licked his lips as he leaned closer to her. /You're beautiful, you know that right, my angel?/ He kissed her lightly on the lips before pulling her into a warm embrace while still sitting on the bed. He was acutely aware of how much skin contact they had, and how little was truly separating them now. /My 'Mione. My Mia. Mine./

/Yours,/ Hermione purred into his ear, licking the tip of it with a grin. /Just like you're mine,/ she added, pushing him down on the bed and pulling at the sheets. /It's okay if I sleep like this, right?/ she asked suddenly, stopping before climbing under the covers with him. /Because if not, I can always.../

Harry cut her off by pulling her down next to him again. /It may take me a little longer to get to sleep,/ he purred softly, smiling into her eyes. /But it will be well worth it./ He then pulled back just a little to look at her face clearly. /What I said before stands... you know that, right?/

Hermione nodded quickly. /I know,/ she reassured him. /I know, don't worry. I just wanted to be a little closer to you, that's all. I just want to sleep with... er, sleep _next_ to you like this. That's okay, right?/

/Wonderful,/ he corrected her as she curled up next to him under the blankets, using his chest as a pillow, which let her hear the soothing sounds of his heart beating beneath her. As he put an arm around her to hold her close, he couldn't help but broaden his smile. /Purrfect./

/I love you, Harry./

He kissed her temple and pulled her even closer to him, so one of her legs swung over his, having her half lying on top of him while still keeping her on the mattress as well. /I know,/ he promised her. /By Merlin's grace, I know./

------------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...**  
The Shadows**


	28. Duel in the Halls of Hogwarts

Chapter Twenty Eight: Duel in the Halls of Hogwarts

"Harry, you have got to do it today!"

"I know, Hermione, I know! But knowing doesn't make it any easier, and you know it!" Harry countered. "You can picture it, can't you? 'Oh, Professor Snape, by the way... sorry about trying to blast you apart in my rage - I misheard you...' Just how is that supposed to help matters?"

Harry had convinced Hermione to double back to the common room with him after a quick breakfast that Friday. The rest of the week had gone fine - in fact, there hadn't been sight nor sound of Snape at all, and there had been word that Talisien would be returning to class the following week - following Hermione's prediction completely.

The problem was, however, that that meant that that day was the first time Harry would have seen Snape since the holidays... and the unfortunate accident of hammering the Potion's Master into the wall and yelling in his face. After speaking with Rozan and Hermione, and thinking about it himself, he knew what he had to do, and apparently, Hermione agreed wholeheartedly.

"Well... just wait until the end of class, and until everyone else has filed out. That should make it a little easier, right?" He could tell that she was nervous about seeing him again too - she was biting her lower lip in thought and twirling a strand of her honey brown hair around on one finger - a sure sign of the current state of her nerves.

"I'd rather get it over with right away, rather than give him all class to sit there seething at me. That way, we can get back to the normal hatred, instead of the I-completely-humilated-him hatred. But I'd be much happier just skivving off..."

"Harry! Hermione!" Both turned in surprise to find Ron stepping through the portrait hole and into the common room. "I thought you both had potions this morning. What's up? Not skivving, are you?"

"Ron, good, maybe you can help me," Hermione said urgently, standing up to pull him over to the couch with them. "Tell Harry that he really can't put this off any longer, and he's got to deal with it today!"

"What's this about, mate?" Ron asked instead, looking at Harry with a bemused expression on his face. "I haven't seen her acting this mental for quite some time."

"He's got to apologise to Snape!"

"What the bloody hell for?"

Harry stood up quite suddenly, stopping their argument before it could even really become one in the first place. "Look, I know I've got to do it... it's just that I can't guarantee that it'll go well." He then turned to Ron. "Forgot to mention it over the holidays, I guess. Snape said something to Hermione and me..."

"- Hermione and I - "

"Right, whatever. Anyway, I misheard him, and got angry. Remember what happened before third year to my Aunt Marge when I got angry, Ron?"

"You blew up Snape and didn't tell me about it?" Ron shouted in laughter, rolling back on the couch. "Mate, I'd've paid all the galleons I ever make in my lifetime to see that!"

"I didn't blow him up!" Harry shouted in return, not at all pleased with his friend's reaction - though he should have expected it, he supposed. "No, I don't know what happened, really, but I plastered him to a wall and ordered him out of my house - and told him that he was never allowed to return to it."

"And all this because you misheard him?" Ron asked, calming down quickly as Harry fell silent.

"Basically."

Ron stood up and nodded, then just as quickly sat back down again, shaking his head. "As much as I might rather agree with Harry on this one and not say anything to the greasy git about it, Hermione's right, mate. You've got to apologise - and skivving the first class of the new term isn't really the way to go about it."

"I know that, both of you," Harry snapped, turning to start towards the exit briskly, picking up his bag on the way. "I was just hoping for a bit of advice for how to go about doing that without making him even madder."

"Harry!" Hermione called after him, picking up her own bag to follow quickly. "We know that, it's just that..."

"Let it drop, Hermione," Ron suggested in a quiet voice as she passed him. "He'll deal with it when he gets there, but not if we bug him about it."

Although Harry didn't say another word on his way to class, he did accept the hand that Hermione offered him. She took his queue and kept quiet as well. She'd apologise later. Just before they turned down the final corridor, she released his hand, remembering Snape's actual words about public displays of affection that started the whole affair in the first place.

The class was surprisingly quiet when the two entered and took their seats near the back. Several vials were sitting on each table, as well as the caldrons that the students had prepared in the previous term that held the Drought of Stability. Although the potion had been finished near the end of November, it was usually stored someplace cold for a little over a month before bottling.

To say they were the only ones in the class would be wrong, though. All the normal students who took the Advanced Potions were there - including, to Harry's dismay, Draco Malfoy, who was looking as smug as ever. It had been the first time he had really seen the Slytherin student - or at least, the first time he had noticed - since the duel after the November Ball.

"Chin up, Harry," Terry said softly as he turned to look to the door. "It's only Potions. Not like anything too bad'll happen - Snape'll yell at you for something and take off house points, but that's about it."

"I know, Terry," he replied with a shrug as Hermione sat down. "But this is a little more complicated than that." Unlike his girlfriend, he didn't take a seat. He had noticed Snape entering the classroom, and waited for their Professor to pass them before he started to follow.

"Back to your seat, Potter. This is my classroom, and what I say here goes, am I clear?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Harry said the moment Snape turned back to the class. He was speaking quietly, so as not to draw more attention that absolutely necessary to the situation. "I was out of line. Please accept my apologises."

"No, Mr. Potter," Snape said firmly, sitting down at his desk and looking down his large nose at the sixth year student. "This is my classroom - what gives you the right to come crawling to me here and demand an acceptance for acting like a child?"

"But sir, I..."

"Fifty points from Gryffindor, Potter," he said, standing up again. "Return to your seat or I will make it more." He then leaned a little closer to him. "If, on the other hand, you will agree - in front of the class - to perform no public displays with Granger, then I will reconsider on the matter."

"You will accept my apology?" When Snape nodded almost imperceivably, Harry took a deep breath and turned back to the class. "Very well, Professor. I promise you not to partake in any displays of affection for my Hermione in front of others." He then looked back. "Is that what you wanted?"

"As usual, Potter, that is hardly acceptable... but I will allow it to pass on this one occasion. Return to your seat now, and let me teach my class!" Harry nodded firmly and walked back to his seat briskly, not wanting to risk saying anything for fear of yelling. "And Miss Granger, that promise goes for you, too," Snape added coldly, looking to them both now that they were sitting down. "In fact, it may be a good idea to separate you as partners to ensure it..."

"Do you take pleasure in picking on us, Professor, simply because we have something you never did?" Harry demanded before he could go any further. He felt Hermione's hand on the back of his robes, trying to pull him back down to his seat, but he shook her off. He had no problem when his least favourite Professor insulted him in front of the class - he was used to that by now, as Terry had so kindly pointed out - but he wasn't about to let him insult Hermione as well.

"Sit down, Potter!"

"I think it would be best if I left class, actually, _Professor _Snape," Harry replied as evenly as possible, though he was sure it came out as more of a snarl than anything else. "Lest I risk destroying a very valuable potion. That, and this way, my presence will not remind you of your own failure in life."

He turned to leave before giving any time for a reaction. It was only Hermione and Terry's shout that brought his mind back to the front of the class, where he saw at once that Snape had his wand out, pointing directly at him.

"Attingo Tactum!" Harry leapt to the side - thankful again for the lessons he had gotten from Kailyn thus far - and watched as the bludgeoning spell struck the large wooden door, blasting it off its hinges.

He pulled his own wand out to defend himself, and saw an immediate problem. If he used a Protego charm now, then the reflected spell could hit any number of students or caldrons. While he wouldn't be that upset seeing Malfoy get pummelled by a spell from his own Head of House, he didn't want to see it happen to anyone else, either.

So he did the only thing he could think of, and darted out of the classroom. He heard a couple of shouts follow him, but he only really registered two of them - Terry's and Hermione's. Terry's was more what he would have expected from Ron, though.

"You can't get in trouble for attacking him now, mate! He started it!"

Hermione, on the other hand, was suggesting a completely defensive stance. "Don't make things worse when it's over, Harry! Just keep yourself safe!"

Instinctively, he leapt into the air, and managed to avoid the leg-locking curse that Snape must have sent his way as he ran down the corridors towards the Great Hall. He figured that the Potion's Master would stop trying to hit him with any spells if there was a large crowd around, so that was his best bet.

_Damn, he's just as good as I thought..._ Harry thought to himself as he shot down a hallway, just narrowly avoiding a jet of red light that knocked a painting off the wall. _He was a Death Eater at one stage, after all, not to mention someone had said in second year that he had been an expert at dueling before..._

"Protego!" Harry shouted quickly as he came to a dead end - the staircase had just turned, which cut off his route completely, and left him with only one exit - the way Snape was coming now, followed by the entire Potion's class, as well as a few other students. The jelly-jegs curse glanced off the railing harmlessly after it bounced from his shielding spell. "Expelliarmus!" he said quickly, hoping to catch his teacher off guard.

By the flip backwards that the professor did, Harry knew that the stories about his abilities weren't exaggerated. "Nowhere to run now, is there, Potter?" Snape sneered at him, leveling his wand at the boy again. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

If there was one spell that he hadn't been expecting, that would have to have been it. Caught off guard, Harry found himself lifted into the air by the spell in an instant, and floating backwards just a little bit, so he was hovering over the drop off caused by the moved staircase.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you, Potter!"

"Stop it!" Hermione shouted from behind him. "Put him down, Professor!"

"Keep your nose out of it, girl!" Snape bit back, looking over his head for a moment at her.

Unable to really think of much to counter the charm, Harry did the best he could as the equivalent of pushing against the power of the spell. If he had been on the ground, it would have been like trying to push down a brick wall, but in the air, it looked somehow different, and definitely out of place.

Snape looked back to Harry quickly, however, when his spell failed and Harry started to fall. Reaching out with his free hand, Harry managed to catch the edge of the floor before falling down. "You can't do anything right, can you, Potter?" Snape demanded, pointing his wand at him again to cast the same spell a second time.

To Harry's amazement, he found himself being put down on solid ground moments later as Snape lowered his wand a bit again. "Thanks," he breathed, lowering his own wand.

"Don't thank me yet, boy!" the Professor said harshly, leveling his wand again. "I owe you one of these from several years ago, not to mention from today as well! Expelliarmus!"

Caught unaware for the second time in the same duel, Harry was not happy with his performance at all - though this wasn't exactly on his mind at the time. He managed to spin aside of the attack by a bit, but his shoulder was struck by the spell, sending him into a flying spin backwards, where he landed hard on the just returned staircase, his wand skittering out of his grasp.

"Accio wand!" Harry said instantly. His wand back in his hand, he stood up and pointed it at Snape. "Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

This time, his own spell rebounded directly at him, catching him in the stomach and lifting him off his feet. He landed hard on the landing at the top of the steps, and before he could even think of recovering, found his wand in Snape's hand.

"Admit your defeat, Potter."

"No," Harry said fiercely. It was one thing to lose in front of such a crowd, it was another to give up entirely. He felt the sheath to his dagger digging into his side slightly, which reminded him of the other wand - the one Hermione had given him. "I'm not done yet." With a flourish, he managed to get to his feet despite the pain and drew his second wand. "Expelliarmus!" He could have used a different spell, but didn't want to make things more dangerous or brutal than they already were.

Time seemed to slow down around them as the pinpoint of white light left his wand, aimed directly at Snape. He heard Snape speaking in slow motion as his wand lifted into the air in an almost comically slow action. "P... r... o... t... e... g... o..."

The white struck the invisible shield, but didn't rebound. Instead, there was an intense crack that rippled through the air, knocking Harry off his feet and into the wall behind him again - as well as knocking most of the students behind Snape to the ground as well. The next thing he knew was Snape looking down with a surprised 'Oh,' on his lips as the spell struck him in the stomach. The Professor was slammed into the wall so hard it knocked the wind out of him, and he fell to the ground on his face, struggling to regain his breath. Both his wand and Harry's normal wand flew from his grasp.

It was Dumbledore who caught both of them, which was probably the only reason everyone watching didn't start shouting or screaming in panic at what had just happened.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked in what could almost be called a calm voice, though his facial features were a little tighter than usual.

"Professor, it wasn't..." Hermione started, on her feet first and already moving to Harry's side to make sure he was alright.

"I'd rather," Dumbledore cut her off gently. "Hear the reasoning from the two directly involved, Miss Granger," he said, looking from Harry to Snape and back again.

Once Harry was on his feet - though leaning heavily on Hermione, thanks to an injury to his leg that happened when he struck the wall the last time - he started down the steps. "I'm sorry, sir. It shouldn't have happened."

"Aha!" Snape said, getting his breath back. "You see, Albus! You see that! Potter is admitting that this is his fault! He was trying to..."

"You forget, Severus, that I see most of what goes on in this school despite rumours to the contrary," Dumbledore said firmly before Snape could get any further. "So I am well aware who started what and just what happened. I had hoped to hear an explanation for those events." He then stopped and looked around at the other students who had gathered. "Away from prying ears."

The hallway was empty save for Dumbledore, Snape, Harry, and Hermione the next moment. Before anyone else could say anything, Hermione looked to the Headmaster firmly. "I'm not leaving him like this, Professor."

To her surprise, Dumbledore actually chuckled lightly at this. "I do not believe I could remove you from him with... what is that muggle contraption called... a 'crowply.' "

"Crowbar, sir," Harry said automatically.

"Right, a crowbar. I haven't had to use one for quite some time, so I'm sure you'll excuse the mistake," he said with a soft smile. "I will permit you to stay for now, Miss. Granger. I imagine you know what happened already anyway."

"It is my fault, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said softly. "I tried to apologise to Sna... sorry... Professor Snape about what happened at home over the holidays, and ended up insulting him afterwards. He shouldn't be punished for this."

Harry, are you sure about that? He attacked you when you had your back turned! Hermione purred softly so it would be hard for anyone else to even hear that sound, let alone question where it was coming from.

He also saved my life in the middle of the duel, Harry reminded her.

"He attacked you first, Harry?"

Harry looked to Snape quickly before looking back to Dumbledore. Their Potion's Master did not look pleased with how things had turned out, but was also looking a little worried.

"Could we just say that we both had a hand in it, and call that even, sir?"

Dumbledore looked over his half moon spectacles at Harry for a moment, his blue eyes unusually still for once. He then turned to Snape. "Is there anything you wish to add, Severus?"

"I'm..." he stopped suddenly, and then his shoulders dropped slightly, taking away the defiant look he had tried to hold for the entire conversation. "I'm sorry, Headmaster. It was wrong of me to act as I did."

"Are you willing to accept Harry's terms?" It was barely perceivable, but it was indeed a nod. "Very well. In that case, I suggest you return to the Potion's dungeon. I would ask for you to stopper all of the vials filled with the Drought."

"Yes sir," Snape said, well aware that, on his own, it would possibly take all day to manage such a feat, which was why the class was going to do it collectively. It would only take the one class that way. "Right away."

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, nodding to him before turning to Harry and Hermione again. "And Harry... you should get to the hospital wing, I believe. Your leg appears to be bent at an odd angle."

Harry looked down in surprise. He was certainly aware of the pain that had resulted from catching the leg on the railing, but he didn't think it was that bad. When he looked, however, he saw that it was, indeed, as bad as it sounded. "Right away, sir."

"You will probably have to stay the night, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly, handing Harry's wand back to him. "And, as you are well aware, there is a no animal policy in the hospital wing for sanitation purposes. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Wonderful. On your way, then."

* * *

As soon as Madame Pomfrey finished giving Harry the potions and casting the spells on his leg to mend him - she had refused to let Hermione give it a try, despite Harry's acceptance of what would happen if she made a mistake - she told Hermione that she would give them five minutes before Harry was to be left alone for the night. Headmaster's orders as well as her own. 

"Before you start, 'Mione," Harry said as soon as the curtain stopped moving, saying that they were, indeed, in private now. "I know I shouldn't have attacked in return, and I know I really shouldn't have said what I did in class."

Hermione sat up and blinked once in surprise. "I should be saying something about that, shouldn't I?" she asked. Harry couldn't help but grin at the genuine surprise in her voice at not having been thinking about it. "I was going to ask how you were, and talk about tonight, but..."

"Really, 'Mione... skip the lecture. We can have it later... right now, we don't have much time," he reminded her, hoping that she would stick to her apparent original idea. "I'm going to miss sleeping in the same bed as you tonight."

"And I'll miss you, too," Hermione said softly. "This is as much a punishment for me as it is for you, Harry!" she pointed out, crossing her arms and letting out a small huff. "And I didn't even do anything."

"Then consider this punishment for any of the other rules that we broke this year so far," he suggested with a grin. "Now, we don't have a lot of time... if you want, that book you gave me for my birthday is on our nightstand. You could probably read that if you can't sleep - it's got loads of good stuff in it."

Hermione leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "I didn't know you were reading it yet..."

"Well, it is one of the books I'm using for Defense Against the Dark Arts, not to mention that I need to have something to look through when you are in the library studying Arithmancy with Julia," he said. At her surprised look, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Terry asked me at the end of last term if there was any way I could convince you to cut back on study time for that class - apparently, he thinks that Julia is taking too much time on it, and not enough with him."

"That's not true at all, honestly!" Hermione said, shaking her head. "Those two are together almost as often as we are - and we sleep in the same bed! I think she'd go spare if she didn't take a bit of time away from him. A girl needs her space sometimes, you know..."

"Then tonight won't be a problem?"

I want you tonight, Harry, Hermione growled in response, probably completely unaware that she had switched to talking in kneazle. I don't know if I _can_ sleep if I can't curl up with you at night... When Harry didn't respond right away but did go bright red, she stopped for a moment, thinking about what she had said before going bright red herself. "I... I just meant that..."

"I know," Harry said quickly. "Try to get some sleep tonight, alright?" he suggested. "I'll be down for breakfast tomorrow morning, that sound okay?"

Hermione sighed and leaned down to give him a hug. "I'll be fine. I just won't be happy about it," she replied. "I love you."

Harry smiled and kissed her softly despite the fact that the curtain was being pulled aside. "I know," he whispered into her ear as she pulled away.

* * *

It was about three in the morning that Hermione stole into Harry's dorm as Willow and sought out the book that Harry had told her would be there. Ron, who was just coming back from a trip to the bathroom, seemed a bit surprised to see her pulling a book downstairs, but said nothing. 

After giving it about five minutes, he went downstairs himself to find Hermione sitting in a chair next to the fire, reading through the ancient tome carefully. "So, can I hear the full version now?" he asked dryly. "I've heard the rumours and all, they're going through the whole school, but they wouldn't let me up to speak to Harry. What's going on?"

Hermione stuck a finger in the book to mark her place and looked up to Ron. "What are you still doing up?" Apparently, she hadn't noticed him when she was getting the book.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I couldn't sleep."

"I thought I might find you down here, and since Harry didn't come up tonight, I thought you could at least tell me why not," Ron finally answered. "As to why I'm up, I had to go to the loo... want to know why, or is that enough information already?"

"That's enough!" Hermione said quickly, biting back a giggle. "Really, that's enough," she repeated before Ron sat down across from her. She was pleased to see that he was at least wearing a set of robes over his pajamas, which were just boxers like Harry's.

"Alright then, spill."

"Harry and Snape got into an argument in class today, and Snape ended up attacking Harry when he tried to leave the class," Hermione explained. "Long story short, Snape nearly killed Harry when Harry broke free of a spell, but then saved his life, only to keep attacking. In the end, Snape disarmed Harry, only for him to call his wand back to him. He then tried to disarm Snape, but the git used a Protego charm, and Harry's own spell broke his leg. He then used his new wand and shattered Snape's shield. That's when Dumbledore showed up."

"Back up a tick..."

"Snape now has to finish bottling the Drought of Stability, and Harry has to spend the night in the Hospital Wing, and under no circumstances can I go visit him. Dumbledore made that very clear," she explained.

"No, back up, Hermione!" Ron said again. "Snape nearly killed Harry how?"

"He cast a Wingardium Leviosa spell, and Harry broke free, nearly falling down about four floors. Snape caught him in another spell, and then set him down on the floor again. Once he was back on balance, he attacked again."

"Snape did what?"

"Ron, I'm not going to repeat myself again at three bloody thirty in the morning," Hermione said firmly, opening the book again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to read."

"Shouldn't you be trying to sleep?" Ron asked, a hint of humour in his voice as he stood up again to go up to his own bed. "Like you said, it's three bloody thirty in the morning. I think I've finally managed to corrupt you at least partially."

"Good night, Ron."

"But you didn't..."

"Good night Ron."

Ron sighed and turned around to go upstairs. "Good night, Hermione." Once on the stairs, he looked back to her, but didn't say anything loudly - instead, he just muttered it under his breath. "You know, if you'd just tell me, I might be able to get back to sleep myself... or at least relax a little."

"I said good night Ron!"

"How the bloody hell did you hear that?" He was not surprised in the slightest when she didn't reply. When the only sound he heard in the next few minutes was the crackling of wood in the fireplace and the turning of pages, he yawned and decided to go up to bed after all.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	29. Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff

Chapter Twenty Nine: Gryffindor Versus Hufflepuff

"Could I ask one favour from you, in exchange for letting the class out early today, Harry?" Talisien asked him just before he made it out the door to the classroom.

"Yes?"

"Could you not leap from your broom in today's match? It was painful enough the first time that I really would rather not have to go through it a second time around."

Harry didn't really have the heart to tell the elf that he wasn't going to be playing in the game against Hufflepuff, so he just nodded his head and stepped out the door to find that Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Colin, and Lavender had all waited for him.

"They'll figure it out, Harry," Lavender said, determination shining in her voice. "I'm sure of it."

"See anything about today's game, Lavender?" Harry asked in a groan. He had hoped that no one would bring up the state of his broomstick - current fastest paperweight in the world. "You were right about our last game, after all..."

She shook her head, but said nothing in response. Apparently she figured out that he didn't really want to talk that much about it. He only wished that Ginny had caught the same hint. "Couldn't we get the broom back from McGonagall and Flitwick and have Hermione have a look at it? Surely she could..."

"I don't know much about broomsticks, Ginny," Hermione cut her off. "I mean, I've read all about them, but with these two going on about them for the past five years, I've sort of lost any interest I might have had in thinking about them for prolonged periods."

"But this is for Harry! Can't you just..."

"She said no, Gin," Harry interrupted her this time. "And I respect that. You're seeker today. Can you handle that?"

"Of course I can!" she replied with a smile. That smile broadened when Colin linked one of his arms with hers. "I might not be as skilled as you, but I'll catch that snitch, don't worry."

"You're lucky that we need you in the game today, Creevey," Ron muttered under his breath, hitting the fifth year in the back of the head anyway. "Take your arm away from my sister there."

"Grow up, Ron," Ginny replied, sticking her tongue out at him as she held onto Colin a little closer. "Besides, we never complain when Luna is hanging off your arm, now do we?"

"That's completely different and you know it."

"Yeah, we leave you alone. I thought we just covered that!"

"Colin?" Harry said suddenly, bringing the argument between the siblings to a stall. "Could you go find your brother? Ron, I want you to get Kirke and Sloper. Have them all meet us in the locker room by the pitch, understand?"

"We're not getting a snack first?"

"Why do you think I told everyone to eat a lot at lunch today?"

"I thought... well, I guess I didn't think about it like that," he admitted as Colin ran off. With a quick nod to Harry and Hermione, he took off in the other direction, having found out that the two beaters had potions that afternoon. Although he didn't really want to get too close to the Potion's dungeons - and, hence, to Snape - he did want to fetch the rest of the team.

When Harry looked to Ginny, it looked like the younger red head was about to say something. He suspected it had to do with his broom, so he started talking first. "Hey Gin, any chance you could give me a moment with Hermione here?"

"But... oh, yeah. Sure thing," she said after realising what he was talking about. He had never told Ron what he had seen in the common room, and she was thankful for that, without question. "I'll meet everyone else down there, then?"

"That would work." He paused to wave to Nearly-Headless Nick before going on. "Make sure your broom is in perfect condition. Talisien asked me to make sure not to jump off my broom today - apparently, he's in no more of a mood to repeat last game's performance than I am."

He didn't have much of a chance to say anything else before Ginny took off in a run and Hermione had pulled him into an empty classroom and shut the door behind them. The next thing he knew were Hermione's soft lips against his own, and her arms wrapped around the back of his neck.

He responded the only way he knew how, and felt her purr her approval in the back of her throat as his tongue danced with her own. She pulled back far sooner than he would have liked, only to look carefully into his eyes. "Are you sure you're going to be okay with sitting back on the sidelines today?"

"Right now, I'd rather skip the game altogether and explore our bed for the next couple of hours..." he replied with a grin to her. "But don't worry, I'll be fine."

"You really should know by now that it's pointless asking me not to worry about you..." she whispered as she leaned into his embrace. "I'll be worrying about you until the day that I die."

"In that case, I hope you keep worrying forever - I'll start asking you to worry instead of not to worry," he said with a grin as he tickled the back of her ear with his tongue. He had found out quite by accident a few nights ago that it drove her completely wild, and was suddenly feeling a bit daring himself. Being dragged into an empty classroom for a quick, passionate snog would do that to most people, though, he figured.

"I've got a name for you now," she said after they separated again. She reached up to run a finger along his slightly swollen lips and couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Remember? I said that since you came up with Willow, then..."

"So what is it?" he asked, rocking slowly back and forth with her. If there was any music playing, it was all in his head, but they were basically slow dancing to the silence.

Not telling, she purred as she tucked her head in under his neck, tickling him with her bushy brown hair. "Not until you have perfected your change," she added in English again.

"C'mon now, that's not really fair," he said, stopping suddenly and holding them still for a moment. "What is it?"

"I told you," she said with a laugh as she pulled away from him. Giving him a quick kiss on the nose, she pulled open the door to the classroom, feeling a little giddy thanks to their quick aside with one another. "Not until you figure it out."

"Great, another reason to stress over it," he muttered to himself as he waved to her disappearing down the corridor. She was going to grab her green cloak before heading out to sit in the stands - she had taken to not wearing it unless they were going to go outside, as she didn't want to stand out too much. Harry had the same issues with standing out, but he figured that if he didn't wear the cloak, then both his wands and his dagger would be obvious to anyone who so much as glanced at him. "Right, then. Time to go torture myself."

As he started to jog down to the pitch and the locker rooms where he would find the rest of his team, he couldn't help but curse at his misfortune. Why was it that, after a ban which made him miss two games last year, his broom would fail him right away this year? Was it something that cow did to his broom, or was it something else entirely? He liked to think that she couldn't have done it - not enough upstairs to come up with something that McGonagall and Flitwick couldn't fix - but he had no real alternative as of yet.

At least they weren't playing Slytherin today. He'd play against them if he had to use a school broom. Beating Malfoy so desperately badly would be all the more sweet that way.

He stopped just outside the locker room door to listen inside. As expected, he heard people moving around, which said the others had already arrived. Rather than just barge in, however, he knocked first. "Right, Ron, I'm only going to warn you once, mate. I'm not in the mood today, got it?"

"Bugger, everyone stop what you're doing!" he heard Ron say quickly. "Go on then, get getting changed again!"

Harry grinned to himself before wiping his face clear of expression again and opening the door slowly to find Ron as the only one still standing in the middle of the room - everyone else was in one of the two changing rooms (boys and girls). Ron, on the other hand, was already ready to go, complete with broom in hand.

"Sorry, mate," Ron said with a shrug. "I figured that today, of all days, you'd need a touch of cheering up."

"Next time, try the cheering charm," Harry said, shaking his head as he took a seat on one of the benches.

"Gimme a break, Harry," Ron said quickly. "I grew up with Fred and George, remember? Every time anyone was feeling down, their idea of cheering them up again was to make them laugh. And you can't deny that I _can_ make you laugh it I want to."

"Not today, you can't."

"That a bet?"

"Don't push it, Ron."

"How far do you think I could get my broomstick up Malfoy's arse before his voice changes to that of a six year old girl?"

"Ron..."

"Actually, come to think of it, there's no need for that, is there? His voice already sounds like that..."

Harry couldn't help the grin that came to his face at that, and ended up shaking his head as he stood up again. "Sometimes, Ron, I don't know why you bother..."

"Someone has to," he countered. "These are dark times, Harry Potter. Dark times." He said the last bit in the unmistakable voice of Dobby the house elf, which caused Harry to actually chuckle instead of just smile.

"Fine, you win."

"Oh, what did he win?" Ginny asked as she came out of the girls' side of the changing rooms. "And what did he do to win it?"

"He ate your broomstick in one bite, Gin," Harry replied.

"I always said he had a big mouth," came the immediate reply, which set Harry into fullfledged laughter at last.

"You Weasley's never miss a beat, do you?"

"I won't miss the snitch, either," she promised.

He simply nodded as everyone else came into the main locker room as well. "Right," he said slowly, taking a deep breath. "You all know that I'd love to be out there playing right alongside you. But, since my life seems cursed sometimes, here we are. Mind you, that's no reason not to win - Gin is a great seeker, as you all saw last year. And, let's face it, Ron's still the king, and Kirke and Sloper can beat a flea six miles by now, right guys?"

"Never tried that one, have we?"

"And let's not forget our chasers - Colin and Denis have trained together for years, and Lavender... let's just say, you are going to clean up out there. They won't know what hit them."

"What's their line up this year, Harry?" she asked. "Who are we against?"

"Smith is the seeker now instead of a chaser, so you won't have to worry about him," Harry said. "Otherwise, as chasers, you'll need to worry about Whitby, Cauldwell, and... uh, that blonde, what's her name... Madley!"

"Madley? Laura Madley?" Colin asked in surprise.

"I think so," Harry replied. "I can't think of any other Madleys, anyway."

"Is that bad, Colin?"

"She's small as a snitch and twice as fast," he said. "I'm surprised they didn't stick her as seeker... maybe Zach is just being as ornery as he was last year."

"Ornery?"

"I'm hanging around Hermione too much, alright?" Colin asked with a shrug. "Talks to Gin a lot whenever you aren't around in the common room, which means I pick things up like that."

Harry nodded before turning to Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke. "You've got to beat Jones and Hopkins. That's Megan Jones and..."

"Wayne Hopkins," Kirke finished. "Yeah, we know. I used to play against him when we were younger, actually. Bet I'll beat the robes off him today - he'll still think I'm rubbish."

Harry looked up at the sound of the gong from outside. "Alright everyone. Looks like it's time to play." He looked back to each of them individually, and then nodded. "Play to win, everyone."

Hermione was right - it was very difficult to sit at the sidelines alone to watch the game as a coach. He couldn't help but think it would be so much nicer to sit up in the bleachers with her, come to think of it. Even though he wasn't playing, he could still hear her screams for Gryffindor loud and clear through the crowd's shouting and hollering.

He was actually so caught up in listening for her voice each time anything happened that Dean's voice cutting through everyone with a loud curse caught him completely off guard, and he pulled out his omnioculars to look up to find out what was going on.

Ginny was weaving between players, hoops, and stands, running from a bludger. A sickening sense of deja vu past through him suddenly, but before he could move or try anything to help her, he caught sight of both Gryffindor beaters moving in to surround her, to try and ward off the rogue bludger.

It came completely without warning. Just after Sloper had cracked one of the bludgers across the field to strike Owen Cauldwell in the arm, Kirke struck another back at Hopkins, apparently catching the boy off guard. The third bludger caught all of them unprepared, and struck Ginny hard in the chest, lifting her clean off her broom.

Harry found himself running as fast as his legs could carry him across the sand pit field, trying to cross almost the entire distance in the amount of time it would take her to fall. He doubted he stood a chance at all, but then he saw Smith shooting down, neck and neck with Lavender and Colin.

Collectively, all three made a grab to try and catch her, but it was only the other seeker who managed to grab hold of a single arm. The limp way she was hanging told him without question that the youngest Weasley was knocked out cold by the brutal strike, which left Gryffindor without a seeker.

Breathing harder than he had at almost any other non-life-threatening point in his life, Harry managed to get under the duo as they descended, and took Ginny from Smith gingerly. "Thanks," he said softly.

"Anytime," came the reply. "Just because I'm not on board the DA anymore doesn't mean I'm gonna let a girl fall to a possible death in a Quidditch match..."

"Thanks," Harry repeated as he turned towards Madame Hooch, Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and a crowd of other Gryffindor students behind them. He was aware that a time out had been called, and suspected Ron was organizing everyone in the air to capture all the bludgers to figure out what was going on. He was sure that his friend would rather be on the ground with his sister, but knew that he couldn't just abandon the game. He probably would have if Harry wasn't with her already.

"She'll be alright, Potter," Madame Pomfrey said kindly as she conjured up a stretcher for her. "You know that as well as I do - you've taken harder hits in this game than that one."

"Just take care of her. Ron'll have my head if you don't."

"Are you sure that can't happen, Madame Hooch?" Harry turned quickly to find Zacharias arguing with the referee and flying instructor. "They can't sub in halfway through?"

"And you know it!"

"And I don't suppose that you would..."

"Smith!" Harry called to him, cutting him off. "Thanks for what you're trying to do, but just play the game. I can't take her place, and you can't postpone it until later. They didn't do it for dementors three years ago, they certainly aren't going to do it for someone's idea of a joke."

"It's a pretty sick joke, if you ask me."

Harry wrapped an arm around Hermione almost subconsciously as he stepped back into the small space provided for coaches at Hogwarts. Usually such a position didn't really exist for any team. "I didn't know you could run that fast," Hermione said to him, drawing him out of his reverie. "Fairly impressive, really."

"I'd have run faster if it was you falling," he said with a grin. Part of him wondered just when she had moved down to the field from the bleachers, but it didn't really matter to him just then.

She just shook her head and gave him a quick squeeze before mostly letting go of him, just keeping hold of one hand in the end. "She'll be alright. I had a quick look as she went passed... probably a broken rib or two, but nothing that won't be as good as new in the morning."

"We'll all go visit her after the game's over."

"We all who? The DA or the Quidditch team?"

"Why not both, Quidditch first, then the DA?"

It was an amazing match to watch in the end, if a little painful for the Hufflepuffs. It was only due to the lack of a seeker on the Gryffindor team that they ended up winning, and it was a close game. Stebbins had gotten very sloppy around the hoops for Hufflepuff, and had let through fifteen goals to Ron's one. Unfortunately, that left the end score at one hundred sixty to one hundred fifty, with Hufflepuff still winning.

Later that evening, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Colin were just getting ready to leave the hospital wing when a knock at the door stopped them. Before anyone could move to get it, Zacharias Smith came in, holding the fighting snitch in his hand.

"She's not awake yet, is she?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Not yet," Harry replied. He had told Ron what had happened on the ground with Smith, which was probably the only thing keeping him from getting mad at the seeker that had cost Gryffindor the win. "Pomfrey said in the morning."

"Right," he said a little uncomfortably. "Look, you're the captain, right Harry?" Apparently he knew the answer already, because he was already going on. "I didn't want to win like this, and I'd be happier giving this to her directly, but..." he stopped and held out the snitch to Harry, who took it without really thinking about it. "It's the school snitch, so that'll have to go back in a couple of days..."

"Thanks. That means a lot... it'll mean a lot to her, too."

"Yeah... anyway, sorry about the way the game ended up. Too bad your chasers aren't a little faster... could have at least tied it up that way," he said with a grin as he started to leave. "That, or Ron should get better. I mean really... letting one shot passed in a three hour game... what were you thinking?"

"I think Ronald played handsomely well," Luna pointed out right away. "He had eighty nine attempts against him, and only one got past, which is an average of..."

"I think he was being sarcastic, Luna," Colin pointed out as she paused to think for a quick moment.

"One point one two three six percent shots getting past, or a block percent of ninety eight point eight seven six four," she concluded as though she wasn't interrupted at all.

"I still say she's a little loony," Ron said affectionately. "But she's mine, too, right love?"

"Of course, Ronald. Just as you are mine," she added, giving him a quick kiss on the chin and moving to give him a hug from behind, despite being so much shorter than he was.

"I think I'm gonna go take a bit of a walk," Harry suggested, motioning to the doorway. Hermione nodded and took one of his hands. "See you in the common room later, Ron."

"Maybe," Ron replied with a grin as Colin sat down next to Ginny's bed. "But we'll see."

Harry and Hermione managed to make it to the bottom of the steps of the hospital wing before running into Hagrid - literally. After he picked them both up and put them on their feet again - again, literally - he froze for a moment instead of actually greeting them.

"What's up, Hagrid?"

"Yeah, Hagrid," Hermione said. "What's wrong? Honestly, you seem frozen suddenly."

He stopped any further questions by lifting one of his ham sized hands into the air as though asking for silence. He then wrinkled his nose as though smelling something particularly foul in the air. "Now... t'ere's a smell I'll ne'er forget..."

"What smell is that?"

"Manticore," he said gruffly, looking up the staircase and back behind them. "None too sure wher's it's comin from, t'ough. Ain't none round t'ese 'ere parts, eh, 'Ermione?"

"Well, no, not usually," she replied after a quick thought. "But you say you can smell one now?"

"Yeah... and ya know why t'at's odd, right?"

"Harry," Hermione said tentatively, turning towards him. For his part, he was mostly lost in the conversation thus far. "Could you give the snitch to Hagrid?"

"Uh, sure, but I'll need it back later, Hagrid, alright?" he said, handing the tiny golden snitch over to the half giant. "It's not mine - it belongs to the school."

"To 'Ogwarts... this?" When Harry nodded, something seemed to click in Hagrid's massive head, because he grabbed Harry by an arm and pointed down the hallway. "W'ere's yer broom, 'Arry?"

"I think Professor McGonagall has it right now, Hagrid."

"Right, ta Minvera's office, then!" he bellowed, taking off booming down the hall, leaving both Harry and Hermione in his wake.

"What's all that about, 'Mione?" Harry asked as he helped her up off the ground and they dusted each other off quickly. "Why did he need the snitch, and what's he going to do to my broom?"

"I can't say for certain," she said quickly, pulling on his hand to get him to start running down the hall as well, despite the rules. "But I think... if I'm right anyway... well, let's just catch up to Hagrid and see, alright?"

"I really wish you'd stop doing that," Harry said with a grin as they came to a stop just next to their Transfiguration Professor's office and heard Hagrid's booming voice inside.

"Just this once, you won't care," Hermione promised him, knocking on the door as hard as she could. Her efforts were rewarded, because all sound inside ceased completely without warning and the door opened a second or two later.

"'Arry! 'Ermione! We've dun it!"

"Done what, Hagrid?" Harry asked as they were both pulled into the rather cramped space. It wasn't usually so cramped, but then, it didn't usually hold the abnormally massive Hagrid, either.

"Hagrid has managed to fix your broom, Harry," McGonagall said before either Hagrid or Hermione - who seemed to have figured it out in already - could say anything.

"He did?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yup," Hagrid replied with a broad grin. "Jus' as well I was goin up ta see tha lit'lest Weasley when I did, er else yer broom might ne'er a been fixed, too. Ain't many round 'ere who've seen a single manticore, let alone more'n one!"

"What does a manticore have to do with anything?" Harry asked as he took his broom back gently. "And you're sure this works now?"

"'Ow bout you 'xplain it ta 'im, 'Ermione? T'ere's twenty points ta Gryffindor in't if ya can!"

"Hermione? You know what's going on, too?"

"I just figured it out when Hagrid said he smelled manticore, Harry. Giants have very distinct noses, you know - they can distinguish almost any smell, however faint. Honestly, you didn't know that?" she asked in shock when he looked surprised. "Anyway, that's important because I bet someone wrapped a manticore whisker around that snitch and bound it in place with a sticking charm - one of the few charms that will work for repairing a snitch's wings, if I remember correctly."

"Alright, so there was a manticore whisker on the snitch. What does that mean?"

"It means, Harry, that if someone stuck a single hair from another male manticore in your broomstick - say, in the end with all the twigs, where it would go unnoticed - the two couldn't get anywhere close to each other. Doesn't everyone know that two male manticores who have picked out their lifemate can not get close to each other, even if they want to?"

"So... it wasn't magics at all, but a magical creature that did it?"

"T'at's right, 'Arry," Hagrid said. "And that's yer points t'ere, 'Ermione! And next time, ya wanna bring t'at broom ta me firs' ta check it out?"

"Hagrid, if I could reach, I'd kiss you!" Harry said happily. Instead, he turned to Hermione and kissed her cleanly on the lips before she could start to pull away. She hadn't wanted to do anything like that in front of McGonagall, and started to blush bright red before she heard the soft laughter of their teacher and the loud, booming laughter of Hagrid.

"Alri't, Minerva, you win, you win," he said happily, wiping a tear away from his eye. "I'll treat ya next time we're at 'Ogsmeade, t'at alri't?"

"Certainly, Hagrid. That will be fine."

"What did you win, Professor?" Harry asked, lost again.

"I told him when you found out your broom was working that you would end up kissing Miss Granger in my office," she replied with a soft smile. "He thought you would wait until you were out of our sight."

"We'll do that too," Harry said, surprising himself with his bold reply. Hermione appeared to want to say something, but was giggling too hard to actually come up with anything at all.

True to his word, once they were both out of sight of the office, Harry pulled Hermione aside and pressed her against the stone wall, letting his broomstick lean casually against the wall next to her. When he leaned if for a kiss, however, she surprised him by pulling away and twisting hard. The end result was that _he_ was the one pinned to the wall, and she was the one kissing him hard, swirling their tongues together.

"We probably won't get much sleep tonight," Harry said into her mouth as they pulled apart for a brief pause before going on again.

"I know," Hermione said in return during the next several breaks. "Ron won't shut up, now that you've got your broom back."

"I mean because I'm not going to stop kissing you," he replied. To that, Hermione did the only thing she could think of, and pressed harder into him to continue their impromptu snogfest.

Ron and the rest of the team could wait an extra hour or so, right?

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	30. Quintons

Chapter Thirty: Quintons

"Settle down, everyone! Settle down!"

Harry, Hermione, and Ron were among the first to arrive down by Hagrid's cabin on the last Wednesday of January, though the rest of the class was fairly quick to follow, given that today was supposed to be a rather special day for the class.

Which could only mean one of a few things - either Hagrid was going to do something incredibly dangerous or stupid - and more than likely, both, really - or it could mean that it meant introducing them to the wood fairy that he had invited over with Talisien. It was also leading to a good deal of confusion amongst the class, given that Hagrid was no where to be seen and Rozan appeared to be sleeping in the pumpkin patch, which had become a sort of favourite place for the time wolf.

"Why isn't anyone listening to me?" the shrill voice repeated. The issue wasn't really that no one was listening to it - it was actually nearly impossible not to, after all. The issue was that no one knew who was talking, and where they happened to be.

"Um... excuse me, but we aren't meaning to be rude," Hermione said, stepping forward to where she thought the voice had come from. "We just aren't sure who you are... or where, really..."

"Oh, well why didn't you all just say so, then?" A bright flash of white followed that statement, and all eyes focused on the ground about a foot in front of Hermione where the light had originated.

In the bare patch of ground stood a creature that looked almost human, though she was only about seven inches tall if even that high. She had white hair that reached down to her waist, and was wearing a very simple white dress, and the way the dress hung told them that that was literally all she was wearing. Aside from that, though, the thing that really stood out were her wings. They were white as well, and almost twice her size when she had them open. As she was standing there, the wings were slowly moving from closed to open, as though preparing to take flight at any time.

"Is that better? You all know where I am now, so there's no excuse to ignoring me now," she said firmly, standing to her full seven inches as though trying to look more intimidating.

"You are a wood fairy," Lavender said in amazement as she knelt down to get a better look at the creature in front of them. "You're quite pretty, you know..."

"So I've been told," the fairy replied with a grin. "But we aren't here to talk about my dress. Your Professor is in the woods trying to round up a couple of creatures for you to look at in the second half of the class today. Until he's done, he suggested that I have a bit of a talk with you."

"What's your name?" Pavarti asked before she could go any further.

The fairy looked a little surprised at being called out like that - which made sense, considering that the class had been told the first day back about fairies, and how they always preferred hearing other people's names before disclosing their own. "I am called Ariasal of Feyrith, child. What is your own?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Pavarti said quickly. "I should have told you that first, right? I'm Pavarti Patil, and this is Lavender Brown.

"Pleased to meet you both. Who else do we have here today?" she asked, looking beyond the two who were closest to her to the others. There were only eight, but Hagrid had told them to listen to a fairy's requests without fail.

"Neville Longbottom."

"Ron Weasley."

"Hermione Granger."

"Harry Potter."

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, the fairy suddenly took flight and hovered directly before Harry's face. "You are the Harry Potter Rozan spoke of?"

Harry groaned and looked over to the sleeping time wolf. He would have prefered to remain anonymous, but that wasn't apparently possible. "Yeah, that's me."

"Excuse me, Ariasal, but you said you were of Feyrith, right?" Hermione asked, trying to draw her attention away from her obviously uncomfortable boyfriend. "Does that mean you linked to her, so you are no longer of Orado, or are you from a different colony of fairies?"

The fairy flitted around Harry's head to stop before Hermione this time. "You know of linking? Of how the fairies communicate?"

"Not much," Hermione admitted, though she obviously didn't want to say that to the whole class. "Not much has been recorded on the matter, but what is known is that a fairy can link with a particular soul... it's very rare, but if a fairy comes in contact with that soul in their lifetime, then their link to the colony is broken off, and a new link with the soul is forged."

"Not entirely accurate, "Ariasal said. "But it is rather close. I'm surprised any information was given at all... there hasn't been a linking in several generations, and I know my Feyrith didn't say anything to anyone - she likes living mostly alone, and wouldn't have bothered with something like this."

"Would you be willing to give us more information on it, then?"

"I did agree with the Wanderer to tell you all a bit about fairies, so that isn't a problem," she said smoothly, landing on the ground again. "I would like it if everyone could sit down, though. I don't want a kink in my neck from looking so high up at you all the time."

Once everyone had gathered around, she started talking again without prompting this time. "When a new fairy is born, they are inducted into the colony immediately - it's actually a part of the birthing process. I won't get into that right now, but what that means is that they are literally a part of all other fairies. We can communicate with one another through our minds, and can always tell when others are in trouble or pain, so we can go to their aide."

"How does that work?" Hermione asked when she paused. Harry looked around at the rest of the class at that, and found that most of them really couldn't care less how it worked - trust Hermione to ask something so specific.

"It's not really easy to explain, but essentially, a part of our minds are separated from us and put into the collective mind of the colony. I say that, but that isn't quite true either - it's not like the colony is alive, it is more like we are a part of it. I'm not doing well here, am I?"

"That doesn't matter," Ron replied before Hermione could. "It's enough to know that that is what happens. The details don't really matter."

"Ron!"

"Alright, they don't matter to anyone but Hermione here. I'm sure she will want to talk to you after class about them if you are still around," he said with a grin, winking to Harry when Hermione looked away from him.

"Even after a fairy dies, the remains stay in touch with the colony. What that means is that if someone picks up the remains, then they can speak with others who hold them, or to fairies themselves from great distances. We haven't let many out of Orado," she added quickly. "But those that are out allow witches and wizards to communicate across the world - I believe they are in use by the Ministry here in England, as well as the head offices of many other Ministries, but that's not my area of knowledge by any means."

"Luna said something about them once, didn't she?" Ron asked, looking to the others in the class as though they would remember.

"Yeah," Neville said, closing his eyes in thought. "I think she said something near the beginning of the year in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class about quintons."

"That's what the remains are often called," Ariasal spoke up, interrupting the conversation so she could keep talking. "And a death of a fairy isn't the only way to obtain one, actually. A fairy can remove their quinton at any time, and a new one will grow over a period of several months. They are long and hard months, however, as the fairy is cut off from the colony for that entire time."

"That sounds hard, alright," Harry muttered, thinking back to his brief stay in the Chamber of Secrets earlier that year when he had tried to cut himself off from everything and everyone. It was the thoughts of Hermione that had made that impossible.

"I am one of the first fairies in this century to link with another soul," Ariasal said after a moment of silence. "Feyrith happened upon the colony, and I met her, was drawn to her, almost the moment she stepped foot in the glen. She had several companions with her, but she was the only one who could link with one of us. I had thought that I would be sad to leave the colony, but in fact, I couldn't be happier. She is a wonderful woman."

"So the two of you can talk through your minds, then?"

"Yes, though often we just speak out loud, because it is easier. One benefit that we have found extremely helpful is that my magics are unlimited when used to help her... that was never the case before," she added with a grin, flitting her wings back, which blew the strands of her white hair out of her eyes.

"E'erythin al'ight there, Ariasal?" Hagrid's booming voice called through the trees at the edge of the forest suddenly. "Ya bout done, er should I give ya a few more minutes ta wrap it up?"

"I can send them to you now, Hagrid," she called back, flying up and landing on Harry's shoulder - much to his surprise. He couldn't really say he was comfortable with her sitting there, but he wasn't sure how he should go about asking her to move.

His discomfort must have been obvious to Hermione again, because she reached out and held a hand before the small fairy. "Any chance you could ride with me, Ariasal?" she asked. "I'd like to ask you a bit more about the way you talk through your minds..."

Ariasal nodded and leapt into Hermione's outstretched hand easily as the class started moving towards the Forbidden Forest to see just what Hagrid had managed to round up for them this time.

The group emerged into a relatively large clearing near the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. It was deep enough in that they couldn't see the school grounds, but not so far as to have blocked the sunlight streaming in through the canopy above. Hagrid was waiting for them in the centre of the field, and had a large thick rope in hand. The rope extended from one side of the clearing to the other, and basically was keeping them from getting any closer to the odd floating creatures behind the half giant.

There appeared to be two different types floating in an almost aimless pattern around each other. Indeed, if they weren't in the Care of Magical Creatures class, they probably would have assumed that they weren't actually looking at creatures in the first place.

One of the types could more accurately be described as a pillar of flames that stood about two feet tall, though it was hovering about six inches above the ground itself. The fire was the orange-red that was normally considered flames from wood, but there were several specks of blue and white flame near the centre, telling of the heat emanating from the creatures.

The other type could only be described at the exact opposite of the first, and were all keeping their distance from the flames. These ones had the appearance of very small tornadoes, measuring about the same height as the flames, though they were made out of water. The centre of the water was almost black, but the outer extremities were a nice pale blue.

"Heliopaths, Hagrid?" Hermione asked in amazement. "They're actually real?" Despite what they had seen thus far, and despite the book she had given Luna for Christmas, she had still haboured her doubts about the odd flame creatures.

"That they are, 'Ermione," Hagrid said with a chuckle. "And I wouldn't go sayin different if I was you," he added. "Right, e'eryone gather round so ya'll can see, and I'll tell ya a bit bout these creatures we got 'ere, a'right?"

"Are you sure that rope is enough to keep them back?" Lavender asked, not taking a step forward with the others. "I mean, half of those things are made out of flames, Hagrid! What's to keep the rope from burning?"

"Trust me, Lav'nder," he said in a booming voice. "This ain't ta keep 'em back... they're well behaved critters, really. This 'ere rope is ta keep those a ya who are too curious back from 'em, keeping ya safe from yerselves." No one missed the fact that he was looking at Harry, Hermione, and Ron when he said this. "Not that I don't trust ya'll er nuthin, just we can't be takin risks we don't need."

Once everyone had come right up to the ropes, one of the pillars of fire floated almost lazily over to them, to hover just out of reach, but certainly close enough to examine it closely. "Heliopaths," Hagrid said clearly - one thing that everyone had to admit was that he always pronounced animal names properly - "Are dead smart creatures. They know how ta stay outta sight, and blend inta the environment if spotted. E'en though they're made a fire, they don't burn t'ings most a the time. Their flames are only 'ot nuff fer that when they're in danger."

As if to prove that point, the heliopath that was closest to them actually floated a little closer and brushed against Hagrid's outstretched hand. After lingering there for a moment, it pulled back again, almost as though it was afraid of the large group of students watching it.

"As ya may've guessed, they're a bit shy a people. Like ta stay outta tha way whene'er possible. That's why I didn't want'cha all gettin too close - they might get scared and then ya'd be in trouble."

"How long do they live for?" Pavarti called out from closer to the back. Unlike Lavender, she had kept her distance when everyone else had tried to get closer. It wasn't that she didn't trust the rope - if Harry had gone forward, then she doubted it would be dangerous - but she wasn't a big fan of uncontrolled fires.

"Er... don't rightly know, Pavarti," Hagrid admitted, rubbing the back of his massive head with his free hand. "Ain't ne'er been round 'em long enough ta find out."

"Eleven years is most common," Harry whispered softly. "Though sometimes, they can live up to about twenty."

All eyes were on him suddenly, and he looked up in surprise. "Blimey, 'Arry... how'd you know t'at?"

"I... er... it's just a guess," he lied quickly. In fact, in the gentle crackling of the closest heliopath, he had heard it answer in it's own language. He hadn't even thought about it before he had repeated what it had said.

"What made ya think a t'at long, though?"

"It just... came to me," Harry admitted, knowing full well that that wasn't really a complete answer. "I mean... I was wondering, too, and those numbers popped into my head."

Apparently, that was a good enough answer for Hagrid for the time being, because he simply nodded. "Right. I'll ask Talisien bout it later, Pavarti, and we'll see if 'Arry 'ere was right." He then nodded, and the pillar of flames backed up to join the others as one of the small water tornadoes took it's place. "Anyone know what t'is is called?"

Everyone looked to each other as though expecting someone to know, and then all eyes fell on Hermione again. She seemed to answer most questions in all classes, so she was the best bet for this, too. She didn't seem too confident in her response this time, though. "They wouldn't be... sorenaitans, would they Hagrid?"

Hagrid's booming laughter answered her immediately, and her face flushed in embarrassment. "T'ats twenty five points fer Gryffindor, 'Ermione! Ya got'em both right! Heliopaths and sorenaitans! Fire and water creatures."

"And they get along?" Neville asked in amazement. "How's that work?"

"Over time, all enemies can learn to work together if their lives are at stake. Oftentimes, such bonds outlast the danger, making allies out of once mortal enemies." All eyes turned to the fairy on Hermione's shoulder. "Such things are not unheard of in the animal world. My Feyrith, for example, helped forge a bond between the elves and the dark elves - a rift had formed between the two that lasted for more than one hundred generations. When faced with mortal peril, it was Feyrith who convinced them to work together to survive... and that bond lasted beyond the danger."

"Er... right," Hagrid said slowly. "I was jus' gonna say t'at they used ta be enemies, but threats ta'em both made 'em work together fer survival... but yer words sounded better. Thanks, Ariasal."

"So, they're friends, then?"

"Right ya're, Neville. Now, sorenaitans are a little stronger than heliopaths, given that it takes a lot more ta get rid a water than it does fire. They still got a lot a magic in 'em, though, meaning they got a lotta enemies. Workin together, the heliopaths and sorenaitans beat back the vicious Liatai - t'eir a creature that no longer exists, by ta way. Now, the only danger facin 'em is nature itself... it's taxin on 'em sometimes, depending on tha season. In winter, sorenaitans need the heliopaths ta keep from freezin, but in the spring time, sorenaitans keep the melting snow away from the heliopaths," Hagrid explained. He was about to say something else when an odd buzzing sound starting coming from his large moleskin jacket. He looked out to the class, and then shrugged. "Er... sorry bout that. Guess it's time fer ya'll ta head back ta the castle."

* * *

While Potions class itself was a strange enough affair these days for Harry, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. In fact, he found himself enjoying them a bit more than usual, given Snape's total and complete silent treatment of him. The only mention of the duel that had taken place was brief eye contact that next class, followed by a simple nod, and that was it. Anyone who actually said anything about it was served a week's worth of detentions, so there wasn't even much muttering about it. 

It was running into Snape in the halls that Harry had been dreading. He was just leaving Transfiguration for the day to head to the Great Hall with Hermione to meet up with Ron and Ginny - both of whom said they wanted to talk about something important - when he met the Potion's Master in the narrow corridor joining the entrance to the Great Hall with the shortcut from the classroom.

He felt Hermione's grip tighten on his hand suddenly, and looked up to find Snape had stopped walking, and so he stopped as well and met his gaze. "Potter," Snape said calmly.

"Professor," he replied, feeling a little uneasy still. Hermione was holding his right hand, which meant if he needed his wand, he'd have to draw it left...

"Something not mentioned in your textbooks... Protego is more effective if the wand is spun upwards, rather than drawn." With his black robes billowing behind him, he didn't wait for a reply before turning and walking away.

Harry looked down to Hermione and met her deep, earth eyes easily. Neither spoke for a moment, and then both tried at the same time.

"That was rather..."

"What do you think..."

Harry smiled, which was apparently all Hermione needed to see to understand that he was letting her speak first. "What do you think he meant by spinning upwards? Like a circular motion rather than straight?"

"I was just going to say that that was rather odd," Harry admitted with a shrug. "As for the tip... I think it's something we'll have to test in the DA at some stage."

"Why would he say that to you, though?" Hermione asked as though the idea that their Potion's instructor would be giving Harry help of any kind as an odd one hadn't struck her earlier.

Harry shrugged. "Given how his own protego seemed to fail? Hard to say..." he admitted. "But I doubt he'd admit to it later in any case." He then gave a gentle pull on the hand he was still holding. "C'mon. Don't want to keep Ron and Ginny waiting for long, right? Ron said it's about the Burrow..."

Hermione's lips drew into a tight line and she looked ahead to the open double doors of the Great Hall. It was obvious she was worried about that conversation - it was one that they should have had a while ago, to be fair, but Harry had convinced her to let the Weasleys come to them, and not the other way around.

They found the two sitting roughly in the middle of the table, and took seats across from them easily. "You sure you're okay talking about this here?" Harry asked quietly, leaning a bit across the supper table as though reaching for the pitcher of juice. "With everyone else around?"

Ron and Ginny both nodded simply. "I reckon if we try somewhere else, it'd be too hard," Ron explained. "Food's always helped me, you know that."

Hermione nodded instantly, which was probably the only reason she missed Harry's discrete wave above her head. Colin and Dean further down the table did not miss it, however, and moved quickly as though they knew exactly what Harry was asking.

The fact that those sitting on either side of the four were engrossed in conversations with those away from them suddenly said that they did understand.

"I'm sorry," Hermione offered softly.

"Not yer fault," Ron muttered, biting into a bread roll and tearing off a piece to lather it with butter. "Our whole family's practically on the hit list anyway, what with the open support of Dumbledore last year..."

"It's still..." Ginny started, but faltered quickly. Harry said nothing at all when Hermione looked to him. Instead, he ducked under the table to take Ginny's place while shoving Ginny towards Hermione. As soon as she was sitting next to the older girl, the red head leaned into her support gratefully. "It was our home, Hermione," she whispered. "All out lives were spent there..."

"It took him no time at all to blast it apart!" Ron hissed fiercely, throwing the piece of bread down on his plate with a clatter. "None! Just... kablamo! And nuthin left of the Burrow." He then sighed and picked up his goblet, swirling around the little that remained in the bottom before downing it. "We couldn't even get our things out first. Dumbledore just told us that we were going, and that was it."

"Mum and Dad grabbed our essentials, Ron," Ginny reminded him. "So we didn't lose everything!"

"I know that," Ron muttered. "And I can't even mention what I lost, because then I sound like a bleeding git! We lost our house, and I up and complain about..."

"Ron," Harry said softly, stopping him before he could actually finish his thought. "Mate, look, it's natural to miss it," he explained. "Your everything was at home... and now it's gone."

"No," Ron countered his voice surprisingly steady as he stared at the side of his goblet suddenly. Harry moved slightly to find out what had captured his friend's attention, and saw the reflection of a blonde haired witch sitting at the Ravenclaw table. "No... not my everything. Not even anything important anymore."

"I lost all my diaries," Ginny admitted softly. "Ever since mum taught me how to read and write, I started keeping a dairy. None of my brothers ever knew... well, none of them but Bill. He caught me when I was just starting out."

"That's why you're always so happy to see Bill, isn't it?" Ron asked.

"He didn't stop me, or even say a word about it to anyone else," Ginny whispered. "My life was in those books... I had one, sometimes two for every year after that." She paused for a minute, and then looked over at Harry. "Well, every year but one, but that wasn't for lack of trying."

Harry had to admit that the question as to why she had tried to use the diary hadn't really entered his mind back then, but it was a valid point now. Maybe she had found it amongst her things, and hadn't even questioned that it was an old book, since she was used to getting things second hand or older than normal.

"You've got a diary for this year?" Harry asked levelly. When she nodded, so did he. "Right, don't buy one for next year. Or any other year. I'll set it up with the Flourish and Blotts... or better yet, I can have 'Mione do it with my account, since they know her better than they know me."

"What?" Ginny asked in surprise. "You don't have to do that, Harry!"

"He might not have to, but I don't think you can talk him out of it," Hermione said softly, trying to remind her to keep her voice down. She was starting to get a little curious about why they hadn't been interrupted at all - not even to pass some of the food that was in front of them - but didn't want to try and find out. "He can be a bit stubborn, in case you haven't noticed."

"This coming from you?" Ron asked incredulously. "Did you happen to forget a certain broom incident because you couldn't leave well enough alone? You were as stubborn as... well... as a mountain troll in that one!"

Hermione's face darkened at the reference to the Firebolt fiasco, and Harry suddenly remembered one of her letters to him from the summer, right after he had told her about Rozan staying in his room. That was one of the hardest times in the world for her...

"So, Ginny lost her diaries," Harry said quickly to stave of whatever reaction might have been forthcoming from Ron's comment. "What did you lose, Ron?"

Ron's face suddenly turned red as he picked up a large piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth in one bite. "Mm cuquat phro kats," he mumbled, looking at the table rather than at any of them.

Hermione looked expectantly at Harry, and to her surprise, so did Ginny. She had assumed that Ron's younger sister would be able to understand him at least - she had grown up around such behaviour surely. As she thought about it, though, she thought that that was probably wrong - Mrs. Weasley would never have allowed him to talk at the table like that.

"Hogsmeade trip in a few weeks' time, two crates," Harry said solemnly, making Ron almost choke on his meat before spitting it out on his plate and coughing loudly. Harry ignored the sounds of protest from both girls across the table and leaned down to get a bit closer to Ron's ears. "I mean that, and I'm not taking no for an answer. But don't think you're going to eat them all - I expect at least half of that chocolate to go around the common room, got it? I'm not about to let Gryffindor's Keeper get sick because of me!"

"I'm not gonna..." Ron started, his ears turning red at this stage, though Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the coughing, his anger at Harry's suggestion, or his embarrassment at it.

"Well I am!" Harry countered. "I can't think of a better use for what's sitting in my vault that helping two of my closest friends in their times of need. You couldn't exactly ask your parents for these, could you?" he asked, looking from Ron to Ginny and back again. "What are friends for?"

"But Harry..." Ron said feebly, apparently not able to actually come up with an argument for once.

"I'm buying them, Ron. If they end up sitting under your bed unopened for the next year and a half, that's not my problem, got it?"

"Thanks mate. I'll make it up to you," Ron mumbled as he picked up his fork and knife to actually attempt cutting the meat before trying to eat it again.

The four sat in relative silence for the next few minutes as Ron and Ginny simply worked at eating their meals. For their parts, Harry and Hermione ate only a little - enough for them, but compared to Weasley appetites, it was barely enough to get by.

Once Ginny set her goblet down again, Hermione actually voiced the question that had been on her mind for quite some time. "So... where are you all going to be living now?"

"We... er... don't really know," Ron admitted softly.

"Mum said that Headquarters is only temporary until they can either get enough money to rebuild or find a new place for us all to live," Ginny added, pouring another glass of pumpkin juice.

"So, you'd just go out to a new house when you find one so Voldemort can blow it up again?" Harry asked pointedly, eliciting a gasp and a kick in the shins from Hermione, which he ignored and went on before anyone could say anything. "That's nonsense mate. Until he's dead, you lot are staying at my house. I'm not taking a no on that one either. Owl your mum and dad if you have to, but that's that."

"Harry, are you... I mean that's... you don't mind?" Ginny finally settled on. Although she was bumbling over words, Ron seemed to have been struck with a stunner for all the response he was giving.

"Hey, so long as you guys can give me a bit of space when I need it, it's fine by me. Hermione's parents are staying there for a while anyway. That'll give your dad something to do when he's got the time."

Hermione seemed a little too choked up from what Harry had said to say anything at all, but Ron set his goblet down firmly and looked to Ginny, though he was speaking to Harry. "Mind if I borrow Hedwig? I've got a bit of a letter to send, by the sounds of things. I'd use Pig, but I think this calls for her instead..." He stood up before he could get an answer, and then leaned over to get closer to Ginny. "If anyone asks, me and Harry had to get into a violent argument about it first, got it?"

The three of them watched Ron leave the Great Hall quickly, looking a bit more cheerful than he had been for quite some time. Luna seemed to notice his rapid departure and got up to follow him. Harry then looked back to Hermione and Ginny to find Hermione smiling broadly at him, and Ginny shaking her head.

"He's well suited for her," she muttered. "He's just as loony as she is."

* * *

It was a minor miracle when Hermione finally laid down on top of Harry that night, resting her head on her arms so she could look into his eyes. She wasn't wearing her bra that night... instead, she was wearing her nightgown. 

The reason it was a minor miracle was because of Harry's reaction when she had first transformed out of her kneazle form and back to herself again. Apparently, when she had told him that she'd be wearing her nightgown that night, he hadn't quite thought about just how thin it could possibly be.

She had to admit - even if it was only to herself - that she didn't seem the type to own a sheer piece of clothing in the first place, especially a nightgown. At least she was still wearing a pair of knickers... but Harry had frozen up completely when he realised that the nightgown was essentially see through.

"This any better?" she whispered to him once she was lying down. "You did a wonderful thing at dinner tonight, you know..." Harry simply nodded to her, as though he didn't quite trust his voice just yet. He had let out a startled eep of surprise instead, and had started talking about apparently whatever came to his mind first as he looked away from her.

When he mentioned the pudding that had been served for dessert that night, she took matters into her own hands and pushed him down to lie on top of him. "Look, I just wanted to wear a bit more than I did the last couple of nights," she explained. "You might have thick blankets, but I still get cold in just a bra and knickers. Besides, it's quite uncomfortable wearing a bra all day and night."

"I wouldn't know," Harry said almost instantly, grinning just a little to her. "Uh... 'Mione... you realise that that nightgown is a little..." She had no doubt that he hadn't even heard her words of praise, but for some reason, that didn't really bother her right then and there.

"Thin?" she suggested. "Sheer? See through? Practically nonexistent?"

"Yeah."

"It's got some magics in it to keep it warm, though, so that's why I'm wearing it."

"You don't mind that..." he started, only to be silenced by a gentle kiss from Hermione.

Remember what we did over Christmas holidays in your bed? she purred to him. The night that everyone else got to your home?

I would never forget that, he purred back, falling into kneazle without a second thought. Whenever she was trying to get closer to him, he noticed she often spoke in kneazle rather than in English, but he couldn't find a reason to care. It was wonderful...

How would you like a repeat? she asked, moving up a little to kiss him again. This time, however, she propped herself up on her hands on either side of his head, pressing her waist into his, but keeping her chest in plain view of him. When he glanced down briefly before meeting her gaze again, she saw an almost hungry desire present. You set the charms, right?

Always, he replied with a grin.

Sometime later, Hermione laid back down on top of him with a contented sigh. We aren't rushing things, are we? she asked quietly, searching his eyes to make sure they hadn't done anything he didn't want. Although she wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of sex yet either, it had been Harry who had asked for them to take it quite slow. You're okay with all this, right?

Yeah, he purred in response. No more than this... but this is good.

Good. They laid in Harry's bed in comfortable silence for quite some time, just looking into each other's eyes, before Harry finally looked away from her, a haunted look overtaking him. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Just thinking. And worrying," he said slowly. "Nothing new there."

"What about?" He looked back to her, and she shrugged, ignoring the feelings that were sent up and down her body by such a movement given their closeness. "Alright, stupid question. Anything you want to talk about?"

Harry sighed and closed his eyes. "I was just wishing that Voldemort wasn't around... I can barely picture a future right now because of him, and I really want to be able to."

"I know what you mean," she whispered. "It took me a long time to be able to imagine what I want my life to be like."

"Oh?" he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "You've thought about it, then? Do tell..."

She blushed at the expression on his face, and then let her eyes lose their focus as she retreated into her dreams while still being awake to talk about them. "I always pictured... getting married," she whispered softly. "A year or two out of Hogwarts, I think. I've always wanted to get married early, so I can spend as much time of my life as possible with you next to me."

"How long have you pictured me as the one you'd be marrying out of Hogwarts?" Harry asked, a touch of amusement in his voice at the dreamy sound of her voice.

"About two years now," she whispered. "And I see us looking at our first house... and enjoying life together. I mean really just enjoying life. We don't get the chance to do that very often right now with the war going on... so that was what I always saw us doing... just existing. Never anything stressful or anything like that."

"Any children I should know about running around?"

She suddenly lost her spaced out look and looked into his eyes quickly. "You don't mind all that? I mean, I really shouldn't have told you all that, honestly. I know most guys would go spare if a girl started talking about marriage and kids this early in a relationship..."

"Mione..." Harry said, cutting her off effectively. "Look, we've known each other for almost six years now, right?" When she nodded slightly, he smiled. "I've always known that you tend to plan out everything, so why should any of this come as a surprise to me?"

"You really don't mind?"

"If you can picture a life after Voldemort, then I don't mind at all what it is," he replied with a grin. "Seriously - any life after Voldemort is a good one by me. One with you... that's only better."

"How many kids were you thinking, then?"

"Kids?" Harry asked in surprise. "I don't know... at least two. I always wanted a sibling when I was younger - though I'm glad I don't have one, now. They would've had to live with the Dursley's, too, and probably be stuck fighting in the war, too."

"I want a lot of kids," Hermione admitted. "Being an only child is lonely... so I want a lot."

"Do you mean Weasley lot, or Patil lot?" Harry asked. He knew that the Patil twins had one younger brother who would be starting Hogwarts the year they finished.

"How many are you okay with?"

"This, my 'Mione, my angel... this is on you, not me. I'm not the one who has to give birth to each of them, remember?"

"Ten," she said almost as soon as he stopped talking. When he looked surprised, she smiled. "One for each year of my life when I didn't know you."

"So... that's your dream, is it?" Harry whispered to her. "That's what you see after Voldemort is dead?"

"Yeah," she sighed in return. "I understand if you don't agree with it, but we can work that out later. We've got lots of time, still."

"'Mione... if I live through this war, then I promise to bring you that dream," he replied firmly. "If we win... if Voldemort dies in the end, then I'll be by your side forever. I've already sworn a wizard's oath to that effect, so I guess that shouldn't come as too much of a shock, now should it?"

She leaned up and kissed him gently before sitting up. She noticed him tense beneath her for a moment before she had pulled on her sheer nightgown again and laid back down on top of him. "I love you, Harry." If she thought he had tensed before when she had sat up, then she wasn't sure how to describe what happened when she whispered that. If was like his whole body had turned to a rock. She kissed him again, and held the kiss until she felt him start to relax before pulling away again. "I know you can't say it now," she said. "I can wait... but I do want to hear it sometime, you know..."

"I know, 'Mione. I'm sorry," he whispered, looking away from her and taking a deep breath. "It's just that..."

She cut him off with a finger on his lips again. "I love you, Harry."

He sighed and smiled weakly to her. "I know."

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	31. Liberty

Chapter Thirty One: Liberty 

A clash of metal on metal rang out through the nearly empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Two heavy breaths later left both people in green cloaks leaping backwards, landing nimbly on their toes, and then standing to their full heights again.

"That's great, both of you!" Kailyn cheered, leaping up from the desk she had been sitting on to watch. "Harry, you're a natural teacher - not that I didn't already know that thanks to the DA, but still! And Hermione, for you to have picked up how to move properly so quickly..."

"Thanks," Harry breathed, sitting down hard on the ground. It was easily one of the most taxing things he had ever been asked to do by the half elf girl... or by anyone save Dumbledore himself, really. Attacking Hermione with his dagger... it sent a shiver up his spine to think about it even now, after the fact.

"You really think I've got the movement down?" Hermione asked, though she didn't sit down. Instead, she turned towards the smaller first year student. "I thought I could have been a bit faster."

"You grew up as a muggle, right?" Hermione blinked her brown eyes twice in surprise before nodding. "Then surely you've heard the expression, 'You have to learn to crawl before you can walk?' "

"Of course," Hermione said, pulling her hood down to let her hair loose again. Although she understood the point of having the hood up to train - given that it tended to block out distractions, while not obscuring vision - it was quite warm to keep up all the time. She paused for a moment, and then nodded again. "So, you're saying I'll get better with practice, then?"

"If Harry can stare at your chest to fight with you and not react, then I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to move properly," Kailyn replied with a grin as she drew both of her short swords easily.

The blush filled Hermione's face instantly, and she knew it went further than just her face - she'd have been surprised if she wasn't red all the way down her neck as well. "I'm not staring there!" Harry said fiercely, drawing his dagger again as he stood quickly. "Like you said in one of my first lessons, it's the collar bone!"

Hermione stepped back quickly as she watched the two go at it. Harry was still quite a bit faster than she was, and seemed to be in a lot more control. He was obviously holding back when he went against her - incentive for her to improve quickly, she supposed.

The biggest challenge that she had to face while fighting with the blade vanished as she sheathed it at her side again in the leather case that Harry had given her. As soon as she had released it and it was covered again, all the visible magical energy in the air vanished again, letting her see everything normally again.

While she might have been mostly used to it while training like they had been, she was much happier being able to see normally again. And watching Harry move so fluently was a treat that she was certainly enjoying being able to indulge in. She had been given the first three lessons by Kailyn, but after that, the half elf had had Harry take over her training.

"You've improved through teaching, Harry," Kailyn said after a surprising clash that left them both leaping apart from each other to regain a safer distance. "Are you aware of that?"

"How do you figure?" Harry demanded as he darted in for an attack of his own. Hermione saw Kailyn flit out of sight for a split second as she leapt backwards - more of her waywatcher training kicking in, though she wasn't nearly as skilled as her grandfather by any means.

Harry seemed to expect this, however, as he fell back into a crouch as he held his blade up before him to defend from Kailyn's counter attacks.

"Next lesson, we'll go over how to fight while trying to escape... I understand that you had a bit of an issue with that a few weeks back..." She said nothing else before starting the counter attack that Harry had expected. After he caught her first sword by the hilt of his dagger, he pushed forward with his legs to fight through her momentum.

The move apparently caught the half elf completely off guard, because she only managed to partially get out of the way. Hermione couldn't stop herself from screaming as Kailyn cried out in pain when Harry's dagger struck her shoulder, piercing it deeply.

All three weapons fell to the ground as Kailyn clutched at her shoulder. A soft white light enveloped her hand and the injury as the skin suddenly knit itself back together. It was only then that Harry slumped onto one knee and tore his cloak off. Hermione gasped in horror and rushed forward to try and help when she saw that his arm was covered in crimson as well, dripping it down the length of his arm and onto the floor.

The door to the classroom slamming open didn't distract her in the slightest as she pressed her hands against the long wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. "It'll be alright, Harry," she said urgently, looking to Kailyn quickly. "Go get Madame Pomfrey, now!"

"There is no need." She looked up in surprise to find Talisien standing over both of them. "Does it hurt, Harry?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Hermione demanded, only to notice Harry shake his head subtly as though to ask her to let him answer. She closed her mouth instantly and looked down to his injury again, feeling almost as though it was her own heart that was pumping the blood that was eliciting from the wound. Or rather, she almost wished it was, to take away the pain.

"Yes," Harry said in a tight voice, his teeth clenched together. "Of course it really hurts. Would you mind _doing_ something about it, maybe?"

"Hermione, do you wish to take away this pain from him?" Talisien asked, his voice, and in fact, his entire demeanour still almost disturbingly calm. "Do you want to heal the damage done?" He caught her eyes with his own for a moment and held them for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, the realisation dawned in her. "Then do it."

Hermione looked away from Talisien and back to Harry. "Please, Harry... just trust me," she whispered. He looked up away from his injury quickly at that, his ocean green eyes shining suddenly. She almost felt him relaxing - she did feel his arm relax instantly, and knew that the rest of him did too, despite the pain he was feeling.

"With my life," he whispered in return.

She looked away from his expressive eyes quickly so she could concentrate on the task at hand. Looking carefully at the injury, she saw that his school robe was going to get in the way, so she released his arm for a moment to pull away the cloth. He growled slightly at that, as though biting back an exclamation of pain, but otherwise didn't move, or even tense up again.

Hermione closed her eyes again carefully and looked at the wound in Harry's arm. She could see the complex weaving of colours that made up his magical energy, and wasn't sure where to begin to try and change things. Rather than try, she opened her eyes again and simply concentrated on the cut itself. She tried to force her mind to literally will the muscle back together, the skin to stitch itself closed again, the nerves to heal so the pain would die. She knew what the arm should look like - she knew a lot of Harry's body intimately well after all, though she surpressed the thought of just what she didn't know quickly so as not to lose her train of thought.

A white glow suddenly surrounded her hands and Harry's arm... much like the glow that had surrounded Kailyn's injury when she had set about healing it. It took all of about a minute to repair the minor damage that had been done - minor, she knew, thanks to all the reading she had done in anatomy. It might have been painful, but it was only an arm injury, after all.

Just as quickly as the light had appeared, it faded again, leaving his arm as good as new again. Rather than release him, though, she just threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her so she could embrace him fully. She let him out of the hug rather quickly, all things considered, and stood up, offering him a hand up as well.

"'Mione..." Harry started, but Talisien cut him off.

"What you just did, Hermione, is a form of inner magics... the very thing that my mate spoke to you about back in October, I believe. Though rather complex magics, the fact that you can do such a thing tells of the power of your own heart, and your willingness to heal others," Talisien explained. "I will speak with you more once class begins, but I would like for Kailyn and Harry to have a quick word before I send her on her way and let the others inside."

Both Harry and Hermione looked to the doorway at his words, and found the entire advanced class cramped in the frame, staring at the scene inside in shock or amazement. Harry looked down at the ground at his feet and saw the splash of his own blood, and could understand that feeling all too well.

"I would like for you to work from a chair today, Harry. That's more blood down there than I like seeing at any given time," Talisien said calmly, turning to walk away from the three.

It didn't take Kailyn long to reassure Harry that she was fine, too. This was probably because he had seen her heal an injury much earlier in the year anyway, and knew that her healing of herself was fast and almost completely painless. It would take a bit more for either Harry or Hermione to really understand what she said before she picked up her swords, sheathed them in her near invisible sheaths, and was gone from the classroom again.

Apparently, she felt that it spoke volumes about just what type of character Harry was, given that he was willing to be injured himself if it meant succeeding in his own attempts. In other words, if he saw a chance to kill the Dark Lord, she was concerned that he would take it, regardless of what might befall him as well.

Harry managed to purr to Hermione that they would talk about it later just as Talisien let down whatever invisible barrier he had put up in the doorway, allowing the rest of the class inside. Once they had all spoken to both Harry and Hermione about what they had seen - reactions ranging from 'Wicked!' to 'And you do that for fun?' - Harry took Talisien's advice to sit at the side to read through one of his textbooks.

Meanwhile, Talisien left the rest of the class to work on their own things while he spoke with Hermione in tones so soft that she probably had difficulty hearing some of what he said. At least, she would have, Harry reasoned, if she didn't have the hearing of a kneazle now.

Harry did take the time in class to speak to each member of the Ministry Crew individually, making them all promise to meet in the Room of Requirement after supper, and to tell no one else about it. He had decided that it was time... it was more than time, really, given that January was almost over. They had been at school for a month after the holidays, and he had just kept putting off the talk he knew had to come.

That night was the night. He had decided that when he had woken up that morning with Hermione in his arms. Fortunately, she agreed with him, and made the decision a rather memorable one before they actually got up in the end.

* * *

"Alright, spill!" Ginny's vibrant voice said the moment the door to the Room of Requirement swung shut behind Harry and Hermione. "How long has that been going on?" 

"Hang on..." Ron said slowly, standing up from the small two-seater couch he was sharing with Luna. The Room had provided another comfortable room that looked a lot like the Gryffindor common room, though less vast. "The last few weeks... when you two have snuck off together..."

"We were training, Ron," Harry deadpanned. The look of disbelief on Ron's face nearly had him cracking up, but the thought of why he had gathered them together was keeping his humour in check.

"So you were not continuing work on your special project that you started at Harry's home over the holidays?" Luna asked with a loopy grin to them both. Ron was next to her in an instant trying to take back her words, but it was a little late for that.

"What special project?" Hermione asked. "I thought we told everyone, we were up in the library working on the study aides for Ginny and Colin, that's all. Why, you didn't think that we..." She let out a little 'eep' and turned red all at once as she sat down in one of the chairs next to the fireplace, looking away from everyone.

"So you two never..." Neville asked with a grin on his face. Harry was sure it was because he was trying to see just how red they could all make Hermione - a fact that Harry wanted to put an end to right away.

"Voldemort." The silence he had been hoping for came, but the collective shudder that he was almost used to didn't follow the silence, making him grin just a little. "Impressive. No one here is scared of his name any longer, then?"

"I'm terrified of it," Ginny admitted. "Being possessed by him is no laughing matter, you know," she explained. "But it's like Talisien was saying on one of our first days back - fear is fear. Knowing how to handle that fear..."

"I shall have to thank him for that later, then," Harry said calmly, turning away from the group to try and collect his thoughts. He knew what he wanted to tell them... getting there was another matter entirely.

"When were you possessed by Voldemort?" Luna asked in an equally calm voice - almost as though she were simply asking about the weather outside or what was Ginny's favourite flavour of pudding.

_That's it..._ Harry thought to himself as he turned back to the other five. "I'll field that one, Ginny, if that's alright," he offered, cutting her off as she opened her mouth. He took a deep breath to try and relax himself before going on, but it had little effect. "Some of you will be familiar with some of what I'm about to tell you... only one of you will know all of it."

"This is serious, isn't it?" Neville asked in a hushed voice. "Dumbledore's let you in on some great secret, and now you are going to tell each of us, right?"

"In a way, yes," Harry said after a moment. "But I'm only telling you because you all have a right to know. You even know a touch of it, Neville. This is about what happened at the end of last year, but to understand it all, I've got to tell you a bit about my time here at Hogwarts."

"That's a lot of time, mate. Besides, don't most of us know it anyway?" Ron asked.

"Did you ever wonder why everything happened to me, though, Ron? Ever wonder why my first year was plagued with odd rumours, unicorn slayings, and a man named Nicholas Flamel?" Harry countered. When Ron didn't answer, but sank back into the chair, Harry went on. "My first year, for those of you who don't know, was the first time I had ever heard of Voldemort. He had attached himself to the back of our Defense Against the Dark Arts' Professor's head - in spirit form only, mind you. He didn't have a real body at the time. I ran into him in a rarely seen dungeon after a series of tests that I only made it through with help from Ron and Hermione. Neville, you probably remember hearing a bit about that, but in all likelihood, it's news to Ginny and Luna."

"You stopped him from attaining the Philosopher's Stone, then?" Luna said the question more like a statement. "Good for you. A talented first year, for sure."

"Hang on, Harry says he stopped Voldemort in his first year, and all you can say about it is that he's 'a talented first year?' " Neville asked in surprise.

"Don't worry, Nev," Harry said with a grin. "I'd never expect to hear a normal statement from our Luna - she wouldn't be herself if we knew what to expect next from her." When no one said anything, Harry closed his eyes to continue, so he wouldn't have to see Ginny's reaction to his second year. "Four years ago, that was when Ginny was possessed. It was thanks to Malfoy senior it happened, and the tool was an old diary. It was also the year I learned that I could speak to snakes, though that fact only helped me find her, not rescue her. It took the sorting hat and Dumbledore's Phoenix Fawkes to help... and I killed a basilisk to do it."

"Gin never told us what it was like down there, Harry," Ron said in a hushed voice. "Never said anything about it save the fact that you saved her. Still feel I owe you for that one."

"Bullocks," Harry said instantly. "No one here owes me anything... if anything, I owe all of you, and more than an explanation too, but that's all I can offer."

"Your third year was that year with all the Dementors, wasn't it?" Luna asked. "There were really strange rumours that year, as I recall... but I don't know what they were about, really..."

"That figures," Harry said with a shrug. "You never hear what any rumours are about, remember? But third year was a strange one... an escaped convict from Azkaban was after me," he said, his voice getting a little softer. "Managed to sneak right into Hogwarts to see me, too. Only... he wasn't here to kill me like everyone thought... he was here to see me, as well as something else... He was after someone else to kill..." He looked up meaningfully at Ron and Ginny. "It was Scabbers. More commonly known as Peter Pettigrew... or better still, Wormtail."

"We all know who Sirius Black was to you," Neville said softly. "And I know what it's like... to lose someone you never got the chance to really get to know."

"That's the thing, Neville," Harry whispered. "I had the chance... I just never really took it." He then straightened again, hardening his resolve to go on. "At the end of the year, I found out about Wormtail from Sirius and our Professor Lupin - he's my new godfather, by the way, appointed by Sirius himself. Then Snape had to stick his nose in... things went downhill, to such a point that Lupin turned werewolf and Wormtail escaped, leaving Sirius in one of our towers awaiting a Dementor's kiss, and Ron, Hermione, and I trapped in the Hospital Wing."

"You actually gonna tell me what happened now?" Ron asked in surprise. "I stopped trying to get it out of you two before fourth year started! I just knew you'd never tell me the whole story..."

"With good reason, Ron!" Hermione piped up now, having been mostly silent until that point. "We meddled with time, changed things around... it's completely illegal, not to mention dangerous as anything! Harry saw himself, even!"

"'Mione..." Harry said softly, and she looked to him instantly, worried that she might have said too much. He smiled to her and shook his head. "I never really thanked you for that." He then looked to everyone else. "We went back in time using a time turner, and then rescued the hippogryff Buckbeak - who prefers Beaky, by the way - and then Sirius Black... my godfather. Unfortunately, with Wormtail gone, there was no way that he could walk around as a free man."

"We know about fourth year," Luna piped up. "In the interview you gave Rita Skeeter for my dad's paper, you told everyone all about it."

Harry nodded and sighed. "I'll skip fourth year, then. Last year... that's the hardest one to really talk about." Steeling himself once again, he went on with as solid a voice as possible, well aware that it would probably crack more than once. "First, that cow Umbridge comes along... then, over Christmas, I thought I was being possessed by Voldemort. Turns out, he was just using my eyes and body, but not really possessing me. That didn't come until much later."

"Later?" Ron and Neville both asked in surprise. "Possessed?"

"Yeah, but I'll get to that," Harry promised. "Anyway, long story short, after I screwed up and got Dumbledore removed from here, I got the message from Voldemort that you all know about... about Sirius being held captive in the Department of Mysteries. Of course, we all know that wasn't the case... but thank you all for supporting me anyway," he sighed. "It's because of that that I owe you all so much."

"Bugger to that, Harry," Neville said, the rare determination shining in his voice suddenly. "You don't owe us anything - in fact, it's because of you that I actually stand a chance at knowing what I'm doing to fight in this war! Not to mention how Gran feels about the whole thing... you don't owe us."

"You could have all been killed!" Harry shouted in return. "All of you! Ron, you were attacked by brains, remember? Still having night terrors caused by other people's memories, are you?" Ron looked shocked at being called out at this, but Harry didn't wait for his answer before looking to Luna instead. "Luna, any idea how lucky you are that they couldn't cast the killing curse on us for fear of breaking the orb I held? If they had, that stunner would have killed you instead! Ginny, how's your ankle? Still limping around at all when the pain suddenly flares back to life?"

Whirling on Neville and Hermione, who were the two sitting by the fireplace, he saw that they were shocked by his outburst as well. "How's the nose, Neville? Can't smell the herbs as well as you used to be able to anymore, can you? Thanks to my brilliant idea, you can't even enjoy Herbology as much as you used to! And 'Mione..." he started, but suddenly found himself cut off as a Full Body Bind struck him from behind.

He watched as Hermione stood up slowly, and, though he tried to fight her off, he could do nothing as she pressed her lips against his, despite everyone else being present. "You did nothing to any of us, Harry," she said softly. He could hear the others agreeing in the background, but he could only focus on the witch who had her arms wrapped around him - he really couldn't do much else at the time anyway. "We chose to come with you, even though we knew it was dangerous. We chose to come..."

Harry breaking out of the curse seemed to shock her, as he suddenly had his arms around her, too, holding her close to him and breathing in deeply of her scent. While he couldn't necessarily use her eyes - and more importantly, he guessed, her ability in Legilimency - to calm down, the smell of her shampoo was, oddly enough, all that it took this time.

"I know," he whispered into her ear. "I know you did. And all I can really do is say... thanks. To each of you."

"Hey," Neville said, and Harry pulled his face out of Hermione's hair to look at the other sixth year Gryffindor standing up to face him. "Even knowing it was a trap, I'd do it all again anyway. Besides, I'm still enjoying Herbology, despite what you might think.""

Harry took a deep, long, slow breath as he separated from Hermione and took a step back so he could see everyone. "Do you all want to know why all of these things are happening now, to me? Why Voldemort tried to kill me in my first year, why he wants me dead even still, why he lured us to the Ministry that night?"

When no one said anything, he couldn't help but grin inwardly to himself. He guessed they were all trying to figure out what to say without much success. "Did anyone here know that the Sorting Hat tried to put me in Slytherin at first?" He held up a hand to keep them from shouting anything at all so he could keep going. "I also told you that I was possessed once - that was last year. In the Ministry, when Voldemort appeared, he possessed me. I remember the pain... it was so intense, worse that the Cruiciatus Curse... I begged Dumbledore to kill me. I wanted to die, it hurt so badly."

The stunned look on everyone's faces told him all he needed to know on what they thought of that fact. Hermione had heard this part before, but even she looked shocked to hear him repeat it so openly.

"Harry?" Neville called softly. When he actually looked over at his dorm mate, Neville leaned forward a little. "It can only be called natural sometimes, when the pain is too great. The fact that you are still here attests to your strengths." He then leaned back. "This is about what we spoke about before I found out about my parents, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Harry said softly. "Yeah... it is." Sitting down on the rock ground in front of the fireplace, he closed his eyes and consciously brought forward his memories of that day... the day everything changed for him. "I nearly destroyed Dumbledore's office before he told me... and then he apologised for not telling me earlier. Said he cared too much." He sighed and bowed his head. "I understand what he meant now... he didn't want me to feel burdened."

"With what, Harry?" Ron asked quietly, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room after Harry's last declaration. Harry slowly brought his eyes back up to meet those of his first friend at Hogwarts, and kept the gaze for a moment before moving onto Luna.

He looked to Ginny next, then Neville, and let his eyes linger on Hermione. She knew of what the prophecy held, but had never heard it. No one had... save for Dumbledore and himself. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies..." Harry paused for a moment to wet his dry lips and looked carefully into Hermione's deep, rich brown eyes. "And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not..."

"Harry, what..." Ginny started, only to have Luna shush her. It was merely the fact that it was Luna that actually made the words die on Ginny's lips - she hadn't expected it from the odd Ravenclaw her brother had fallen for.

"And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives..." Harry stood up slowly from the ground and squared his shoulders, now looking down into Hermione's eyes. He had never let his gaze wander after he started, and he wasn't about to now. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

It took several minutes for anyone to say anything after Harry's words died in the room. That wasn't to say it was completely silent, however. Hermione was most certainly crying, though doing it almost silently, and Harry was holding her against him, trying to reassure her by rocking her, but he wasn't saying anything either.

"Blimey."

"Ron, there is a time for words like that, and a time for something much stronger," Ginny said firmly. "I just won't say them, because I think they might upset Hermione a little bit more than she already is."

"So... what's it mean?" Ron asked slowly, nodding to his sister's comments. "I mean, I get the gist of it, but..."

"It means, Ronald, that Harry is the only one who can kill Voldemort," Luna said with a matter-of-fact kind of voice. It was one of the few times anyone had heard her sound determined about something - or rather, speak with an almost normal voice, which meant she _sounded _determined, even if that wasn't her intention.

"Bullocks."

"Weren't you listening at all?" Neville demanded, standing up quickly to come to Harry's support - it was obvious he wasn't going to, given how he was still holding Hermione. "Either must die at the hand of the other? Mark him as his equal?

"Yeah, I heard him!" Ron said firmly, standing up to face Neville. "But that doesn't mean I have to agree!"

"What would it take to convince you, then?"

"Just tell me why my best mate has to go off to find and kill some nutter because of blasted Divination!" Ron countered. If it was a different time, Harry probably would have laughed at Ron calling VOldemort a nutter. As it was, the indignant expression on Neville's face suddenly faded, and he stood down a little.

"You're scared for him."

"What's your point?"

"Why do you think he hid this from all of us for so long?"

Ron stopped with his mouth open and a finger pointing at Neville as though to blast into him again, but no words came out. After a second or two, he snapped his mouth shut and looked puzzled. "Good point," he admitted. "Oi, Harry, ya got an answer to that, or not?"

It was the very question that Harry had dreaded hearing the moment he had decided to finally tell them. He knew his own reasons, of course, but to explain them to others, even his closest friends... "What do you expect me to do now?" Harry asked calmly.

"What do I..." Ron stopped again, but this time shook his head. "Isn't it obvious? You're gonna train up the DA, and together, we'll go hunt down the bleeding bastard so we can all get on with our lives!"

"I'm not taking anybody when I go to face him!" Harry shouted, his green eyes blazing with a fury not seen within them for a very long time. "I don't plan on letting anyone get killed like that! This is my prophecy, my fate, my destiny, and _my_ bloody decision!"

He stopped shouting the moment Hermione's hand touched his shoulder, and he whirled on her quickly, but she cut him off with a finger on his lips. "We are going to be behind you, Harry, whether you like it or not."

"If you're behind me, then how am I supposed to duck?"

"With us behind you," Ron said firmly, coming up to grasp his other shoulder. "You won't _have_ to duck."

Harry didn't reply - really, no words would even come to his mouth - as Ginny placed her hand on his shoulder as well. Luna put hers on top of Ron's, and Neville put his next to Hermione's. "We're all behind you. We know you'll lead us in the right direction to end this."

"I am no leader."

"That's bullocks, mate. Pure bullocks. What do you think you've been doin with the DA for the past year and a half?"

"And I can't do this alone."

Hermione leaned in despite the close quarters of everyone else to place a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. "I wouldn't leave you alone."

"None of us will," Luna said, her voice still strangely normal, and not dreamy like usual.

"Just don't expect a kiss from each of us," Ron quipped. "You might be like a brother to me, but you've seen how my brothers share family bonds - and in case you've forgotten, it isn't anything like that!"

Ron's ill choice of humour actually brought a bit of a smile to Harry's mouth and he sighed. "Thanks. All of you, thanks. I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll do it," Ginny suggested. "We all know you can, that you will, but do you know it, too?"

Harry nodded firmly, putting a hand on top of Hermione's. "Voldemort will die by my hand."

"And the rest of us will make sure you get to him first," Neville promised.

Once the others pulled away, Hermione sniffled to try and keep back a fresh wave of tears. She knew that they would be supportive of Harry - she wished she had been able to get her act together earlier, but actually hearing the whole prophecy was a bit nerve wracking - but this was more than she had thought they would do.

"It's alright," Harry said softly, obviously talking only to Hermione despite the fact that everyone else was still there. "You knew about it beforehand, remember? Now you've just heard the whole thing."

"And it doesn't change a thing," Hermione whispered as she held out her arms to hug him again. "I love you."

"I know," he whispered into her ear, brushing her brown hair aside first to gain access.

Before he could say anything else, Hermione's wand started to vibrate again, and she looked up in surprise as she separated from Harry. "It's five minutes to curfew!" she said in an almost hiss. "We've all got to get moving, now!"

"Hermione, I need to talk to Harry for a minute first," Ron said, sitting down again. "We'll be fine getting back - Merlin knows we've done it enough times to be able to pull it off again, even without the cloak."

"Good night, Ronald," Luna said, leaning down to give him a kiss. "Garble wayho."

"Garble wayho," Ron whispered in return, giving her a quick kiss on the nose herself before standing up and walking out the door that Hermione was holding open for them.

She paused for a minute after Neville and Ginny had both left as well, obviously debating about letting Ron have his way or telling them both to get back to Gryffindor tower right away. Finally, she sighed and nodded, walking out the door and closing it silently behind her.

"Garble wayho?" Harry couldn't help but ask the moment the door was closed. "What was all that about?"

Ron shrugged and leaned back in the couch. "One of Luna's phrases," he said, as though that explained everything. "You know, like Dumbledore's words during our first year speech - I think nitwit was in there, come to think of it, which means he could have been insulting us..."

"And do I want to know what 'garble wayho' means, exactly?"

"If you can't figure it out, then I'm not gonna tell you," Ron said with a grin as he sat forward again. "Besides, I'm sure you've said the same thing in English to Hermione, right?"

"Wh..." Harry cut himself off and shook his head. "So that's what it means, huh?"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Did you tell her that you love her yet?"

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. "What makes you think that?"

Ron's chipper attitude suddenly vanished, and he was on his feet very quickly, standing so close to Harry that it made them both more than a little uncomfortable, but Ron didn't back down. "You telling me you don't, then? After what you two..."

Apparently, Ron didn't want to actually say what he thought Harry and Hermione got up to when they were alone, but the point was made loud and clear. "Look, I haven't even told her yet! What makes you think I'm gonna just up and tell you now?"

"You haven't?" That statement seemed to make Ron even madder than the previous one had. "What's wrong with you? Don't you have any idea how much that's got to hurt her, when she tells you all the time, and you never give a proper answer?"

"Butt out, Ron!" Harry practically shouted in his face. "This doesn't concern you! You wouldn't understand!"

"She's not going to die if you tell her!" The two were literally nose to nose by this point, glaring directly into each other's eyes. When Harry looked away suddenly at his words, Ron leapt on the opportunity. "Aha! That is it, isn't it? That's why you haven't told her!"

"Lucky guess," Harry mumbled, taking the seat that Hermione had been sitting in earlier.

"My arse!" Ron plunked himself down in the seat across from Harry, still glowering at him. "What do you think the two of us talked about while you and Luna were talking about me down by the lake?"

"Uh, maybe Prefect duties?" Harry asked sarcastically. "Given that I don't know what those are, I couldn't say!"

"Try you!" Ron countered. "Yeah, that's right. Our Hermione's worried... she doesn't know what to think. One minute, she's thinking that you don't care about her at all, and the next, she just knows that she is your everything! Look, mate, you've gotta tell her, before she goes more mental than she already is!" Ron seemed to have calmed down a bit if he was making cracks about her. "And, I've gotta be honest with you - I don't think I could handle a more mental Hermione!"

"I can't tell her!" Harry growled, not looking at Ron anymore, but instead, looking at the slowly dwindling fire. "It's not as easy as you make it sound."

"Sure it is!" Ron said immediately. "Just sit down with her, and..."

"Dammit, Ron, let me finish!" Harry roared, standing up to stare down at his friend. "Her dying is only part of the reason! What about me?"

"What about you?" Ron asked, clearly confused by this sudden twist.

"And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives..." Harry repeated in an almost monotone before opening his eyes, looking more livid than he had for quite some time. "Did you conveniently forget about that already?"

"I don't see what that prophecy has to do with..."

"I could die against Voldemort!" Harry shouted. "And if I told her before that happened, where would that leave her? I can't do that to her! I can't, and I won't!"

"How long has she known about it?" Ron asked after a few minutes of watching Harry simply pace up and down the short length of the room.

"July 31," Harry said automatically.

"Blimey, that long?" Ron asked in surprise, but didn't wait for an answer. "Look, it's not important when, really, just that it was a long time ago. You told me at the November Ball that you had only gotten together shortly before that, right?" When Harry nodded, Ron shrugged his shoulders. "So don't you think she's considered that possibility? The one that you could be stolen from us?"

"Yeah, but..."

"But nothing!" Ron said, calm again without any real warning. "She's thought about it - knowing her, I wouldn't be surprise to find charts and tables made up with the pros and cons, and all the risks mapped out, would you? And you know what? It didn't make a lick of difference - she still means it every time she says it to you."

"I know," Harry whispered, moving towards the door. "And that's what makes it so hard for me to say it in return." He didn't give Ron any more time to talk to him about the subject before pulling the door open, forcing them both into silence to maintain secrecy as they snuck back to the common room. They did have a close encounter with Filtch, and a near miss with Peeves (fortunately, both cancelled each other out when Peeves spotted Filch first and went tearing after him to drop a statue on the caretaker's cat), but otherwise, made it without concern.

* * *

"Kailyn saw something in today's lesson, didn't she?" Hermione whispered to Harry once he joined her in his bed and closed the curtains. She was back in her blue camisole and silk pants again - Harry had whispered something to her about enjoying the silk at some stage, and she wasn't going to be caught unprepared, though that wasn't exactly on her mind right then. "What did she mean?" 

Harry caught her hand that was lazily circling around on his bare chest and held it still. "If you want to talk to me, you really shouldn't do that right now..." he whispered in return, leaning over to capture her lips with his own. She pulled back quickly, though, and he sighed as he leaned his head onto his pillow again and looked into her eyes. She wasn't lying on top of him just yet either - just next to him, with an arm on him. "I thought you knew what she meant..."

"I'm hoping I was wrong," Hermione replied, biting her lower lip. It took all of Harry's concentration not to lean down to take over for her, but he doubted she would appreciate that - he could tell that she felt this was a very serious discussion, and he had promised that they would talk about it later, after all.

Harry closed his eyes rather than trust himself not to act on his impulses and sighed. "All she meant was that I can take foolish risks sometimes. We both already knew that, right?"

"That's not what she meant at all!" Hermione countered almost instantly. "And you know it!"

"It was part of it!" Harry objected before opening his eyes to face her again. She looked quite upset, and had traces of tears in her eyes, but also looked slightly angry. Never a good combination, really. "She meant that I would kill Voldemort if I saw a chance to do it... regardless of whether or not it would kill me at the same time," he admitted.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Harry James Potter!" she hissed, pulling her hand away from his warmth, leaving him with a cold feeling on his chest suddenly. "Was she right?"

"I have to kill him, 'Mione," Harry said softly, knowing that she probably wasn't going to like his answer at all. "And if that means I have to die in the process... I guess that will be that."

"And you're just okay with that?"

Harry was never happier that he had cast the privacy charms around his bed than he was right then - she had shouted at him in anger and sat up in the bed. There was no question that the others would know if he hadn't.

"No, I'm not okay with that," Harry said firmly, sitting up to face her, pretending to be a little braver than he actually felt at the moment. "But if it would keep you safe... keep my friends safe, then yeah... I would."

Seeing a very angry Hermione sitting next to him in her pajamas was not something Harry had ever really wanted to see (even if it did denounce the theory that girls could be hot when they were mad), but he hadn't wanted to lie to her, either.

He wasn't sure what to expect, really, so he simply scrunched his eyes closed and hoped that it would be over soon. After a minute of just sitting there, Hermione let out an exasperated sound and thumped down on the bed. He opened his eyes to see her curled up towards the wall.

"You are so lucky that I don't think I can sleep in a bed without you anymore, or I would be so far gone!" she whispered fiercely to him. "Obviously, the promise you made to me awhile ago means nothing then, does it?"

"'Mione..." Harry groaned, putting a hand on her shoulder to try and get her to at least roll over to face him. She swatted his hand away from her and curled up a little tighter. "C'mon, 'Mione... at least listen..."

"Gimme your blanket," she replied, reaching down to pull at it. Harry shrugged and pulled it out from the edges of the mattress, and watched as she wrapped it around her tightly before curling back up to face the wall again. "I don't care that mum told me never to go to sleep mad... I don't want to talk to you right now, Harry."

"But..."

"Save it."

Harry sighed - he tried to do it mostly to himself so she wouldn't get mad at him for that too - and laid back down. Without the blankets, it was going to be a little hard to get to sleep, but he could have dealt with that if not for the angry witch lying next to him. Even if he was comfortable, with her angry and in the same bed, it would not have been a good night.

He laid there, quite certain that there was no way he was going to be able to get any sleep whatsoever for a couple of hours at least before he finally noticed it. Hermione's breathing had finally slowed down to a relaxed, even pace, which told him without a doubt that she was finally asleep.

"At least one of us can sleep tonight," he muttered as he sat back up again slowly. Looked down to Hermione, he was startled to see that she had literally cried herself to sleep without him even realising it, and that fact brought a prickle to his own eyes. "Oh God... I'm sorry, 'Mione," he whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from her nose. "I'm so, so sorry..."

"Ron was right... I've been such a prat about everything," he whispered, leaning down to get a little closer to her without getting close enough to risk waking her. "You are everything to me... everything... you hold my heart, and there's no questioning that. Without question, I love you... but instead of telling you that, I just go ahead and hurt you like this..."

He closed his eyes and squeezed out a couple of his own tears, feeling them roll down his cheeks before he trusted even a simple whisper not to betray him. "I wish I could tell you, I really do. I will, too... just not yet, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise. The only thing I can tell you now is that I won't get myself killed when I take him on. You've given me a reason to live before I face him again... why wouldn't I want to come back to that?"

"I'm so sorry... I'll do everything I can to make sure I can come back... back to your beautiful smile, your wonderfully expressive eyes, your exquisite bushy brown hair... back home to you," he whispered, getting as close to her ear as he dared. "You've given me a reason with your dream... I guess it's my turn now. I'll be coming back... just make sure that when we go, you come back, too. Your dream can't happen if either of us..."

Fearing that he wouldn't be able to keep back the sob that was caught in his throat as he looked down at her sleeping form and saw the tears stains on her cheeks again that told of how she had managed to fall asleep, he pulled away from her and curled up on the other side of the bed.

He was cold without the blanket, given that the sheet was quite thin, especially for winter. But given what he had just done to his precious angel, how badly he had just hurt her... he felt that, for once, he truely deserved to be cold while he cried himself into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	32. Gravity

Chapter Thirty Two: Gravity 

Harry was only dimly aware of actually waking up the next morning. It was probably around six, just before dawn really, that he felt a strange warmth curl up around him. Still in his hazy, sleep deprived state, he smiled and snuggled in a little closer to the warmth, letting his mind relax again as he closed his eyes.

It was actually much later that he started to stir again, and that was to the whispering in his ear. C'mon, Harry. It's time to wake up, for real this time...

Too early, he purred back, reaching around blindly to bring the warmth back. He froze at Hermione's giggle, and knew instantly that he hadn't grabbed the blanket like he had assumed - the feel of Hermione's silk pants was quite obvious.

It's a little late to be doing something like that... we'll miss class... When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his glasses dangling in front of his face. Putting them on, he sat up slowly to find Hermione sitting next to him now, her knees pulled up to her chest. Morning...

Now, given how drastic a change this was from the previous night, Harry was a little leary of what was going on, and looked around first. The curtains were still drawn around them, and Hermione's brown hair definitely still looked like she had just gotten up - his own, he knew without a doubt, looked no messier than it had before.

"What's going on?" he asked slowly, still not sure of things.

"We've really got to get up now... Transfiguration starts in about twenty minutes, and we really have to get there in time!"

"Transfig..." Harry stopped as his brain kicked into gear. "It's Wednesday, though. That means Care of Magical Creatures is first, remember?"

"It's almost ten in the morning, Harry," Hermione explained. It could have been his imagination, but she looked almost contrite and sheepish as she explained that. "I thought we could both use a bit of a lie in..."

"But... after last night... Hermione?"

She stopped him with a gentle kiss. "I'm sorry, love," she whispered as she pulled back. "I shouldn't have pushed you like that... you had just had a really hard time telling everyone about the prophecy, and then I had to go and ask about..."

"No," Harry said quickly. "No, I won't let you take the blame for this one, 'Mione. I hurt you last night... I know I did, you had to cry yourself to sleep! I... I'd say sorry, but I don't think that's really strong enough. All I can do is promise you that I was wrong - and tell you that if you live through this war, then I will too. And that's one promise I don't intend to break!"

"Oh, honestly Harry, it's just..." Apparently she couldn't come up with just what it was, exactly, but she threw her arms around him and pulled him close. "I understand what my mum meant now," she whispered softly. "Last night was just so..."

"I know," he whispered. "I know." He paused for a minute, and then pulled her even closer, engulfing himself in her presence. "Are we okay, 'Mione? Are we..."

I love you, she purred into his ear before he could say anything else. And I always will... even if you are a prat sometimes. After a few minutes, Hermione pulled away again and looked at him seriously. "Just don't think you can get away with talking like that again, you hear me? Getting yourself killed won't get us anywhere!"

"I can live with that," Harry said solemnly, well aware of the irony of his choice of words.

"Good," she said firmly, stretching a little before swinging her feet over to climb across him. "Now, I've got to get to my dorm to get a change of clothes... I'll meet you in the common room in five minutes?"

"Right," he said simply, watching as she pulled back the curtains and flew out the room. _Wonder how Hagrid took it that we weren't there... did Ron say something?_ He stopped that line of thought when he noticed the small scrap of parchment on his night table next to his belt.

_Taken care of._

_-Ron_

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Harry asked himself as he pulled out a fresh change of clothes. Once he had pulled his robes on and done up his belt again, he grabbed his cloak and stuffed the parchment in his pocket as he took off downstairs to meet Hermione. When he found she wasn't down yet, he took a moment to actually don the cloak, but pushed the hood down again automatically - it seemed to have a mind of its own in that regard, and always seemed to start up first.

"Knut for your thoughts?" He looked up from the ground to find Hermione looking at him from the girl's staircase. "I can't read you so well anymore..."

"Sorry," he said softly, taking her hand as they ducked out of the portrait hole.

"It's not your fault... we just haven't been spending as much time just being recently. There's always something going on, and we haven't had a chance to talk about it," she replied as they came to a stop before the classroom. There was no one else around yet, and the door was still closed, which said they still had plenty of time left.

"I don't want to talk about it, though," Harry mumbled, half to himself, but half so she could hear him. "Besides, half the reason you can't read me so well is in a sheath at my side, remember? It blocks everyone off, regardless of what I have to say on the matter."

"Have you asked Talisien about it yet?"

Harry shook his head. In truth, he had forgotten about such things - dealing with the DA, Quidditch practices, and classes had actually pushed the thought out of his mind. "Sorry," he said again.

"Don't be sorry, just fix it," she suggested with a smile. "Now, did you finish your essay for today? It was on the Effects of Concentration on Transfiguration, remember?"

"That was due today?" Harry asked in surprise. When she glared at him, he grinned. "That's odd, because I finished it two days ago... I didn't even have to stay up half the night working on it."

"Good job," she whispered, leaning up to give him a quick kiss.

"Guess I'm learning," he replied glibly. "I get more kisses with you happy." He then remembered the odd note he had found sitting on the nightstand, and dug into his pockets to pull it out. "Any idea what this was all about?"

"Taken care of?" Hermione read quickly, looking up to meet his questioning gaze. "No idea."

"No idea?" Harry repeated. When she shook her head, something clicked in his brain. She always had an idea about everything... not even offering a theory about this unknown didn't seem like her at all. "You sure?"

"Er... well... could it be about something from last term? Maybe it's been there for a while, and we just didn't notice it. Like, Ron saying he had looked into the status of your broom one day last term?" she suggested at his prodding.

Harry shook his head. "No, that doesn't make much sense. If that was what it was, he'd have either told me directly, or maybe scribbled a note that said 'still broken,' not 'taken care of.' "

"Well, I guess you'll have to ask him yourself over lunch," she explained, putting the scrap back into his pocket with a shrug. "Probably nothing, though."

"You're probably right," he said with a nod as Professor McGonagall opened the door to the classroom. Just down the corridor, the rest of the class was on their way, so Harry and Hermione started inside. He couldn't help but think that maybe Hermione knew exactly what the note was about, and she had asked Ron to let Hagrid know that neither of them would be in class that morning... but perhaps that was wishful thinking. She was probably still mad at him, that was all, which explained why she wasn't helping.

Of course, if she had asked Ron, then he would have known that she had spent the night in Harry's bed - even if it was a horrible night - and there was no telling how their friend would take that.

After the pop quiz given at the beginning of the class, not to mention the grueling tasks they were put through, Harry had essentially forgotten about the scrap of parchment. Even when he put his hand in his pocket to pull out an extra quill, he didn't feel it there, and so didn't even realise that Hermione had actually held on to it, and simply made him think she had put it back.

* * *

It was the following Sunday, the last day in January while Hermione was studying in the library that Harry again thought of the odd note that Ron had left him. It wasn't really that he noticed the note itself was missing, more like he saw a few things that he didn't think made a whole lot of sense to him, and added the note to that list. 

The first was when he looked out one of the large windows to peer down at the cool winter grounds. In the pumpkin patch - that was usually lightly dusted with snow by now - sat the time wolf Rozan, but he wasn't alone. Both Ron and Luna were down there with him, neither wearing their usual warmer cloaks at all. In fact, if he didn't know any better, Harry would have sworn that in that little area it was summertime, not winter. Both Ron and Luna appeared to be almost asleep, practically curled up together.

Not knowing what to make of it, he simply shook his head and continued towards the library. Kailyn had told him earlier that she wanted to give he and Hermione a bit of a lesson, and he had promised to get her quickly. He knew that that was probably the only way to get her out of the library that afternoon anyway...

Harry paused again at the top of the stairs as an odd sound caught his attention. Turning, he looked down one of the narrow corridors, and thought he saw Neville and Lavender walking slowly along it, with Lavender singing to Neville. _Singing?_ He stopped completely and doubled back, but there was no sign of either of them anymore. _I must be losing it... didn't get enough sleep last night, that's all..._

The last thing that was definitely out of place was Ginny and Colin just outside the library. They were moving quickly and whispering to each other, though to Harry it was rather obvious that Ginny was trying not to burst into laughter with every step.

"What's up you two?" he asked, stopping before they would actually run into him. He suspected they hadn't even noticed he was there, given how high Colin jumped at the sound of his voice.

"N... nothing!" he said quickly, but that just made Ginny laugh harder.

"It's not nothing!" she squeaked out. "I had no idea that potion was so powerful, though," she giggled. "They probably sent an extra powerful batch when they found out what the plans were..."

Harry raised an eyebrow to ask for an explanation before either of them started making any sense. While Colin seemed apologetic for it, Ginny couldn't have been happier.

"I managed to convince a couple of house elves to do me a bit of a favour for lunch, that's all," Ginny said with a broad grin. "Just a drop of potion in every goblet that appeared on the Slytherin table..."

"Potion?" Colin reached into his robes and pulled out a small vial to show to Harry. He assumed Colin had it, given that he was probably the least likely person to be searched in the event that it came to light. "Putrid Pink?"

"Turns hair colour pink for twenty four hours!" Ginny managed before laughing again.

"All the Slytherins?" Harry asked with a smile of his own.

"I tried to talk her out of it, Harry, honest," Colin said quickly. "But she had her heart set on it, saying that this was the best way for her to relax... and so I couldn't really talk her... wait, you're not upset?"

"Why would I be? I'm no prefect - though both of you are, in case you've forgotten. Besides, I've never passed an opportunity to laugh at those green goons," he said easily. "But why outside the library? The kitchens are in the other direction, right?"

"Just saying hi to Hermione," Ginny said easily. "Thought she'd get a good laugh out of it, too. She didn't, but she's not mad either. Can't ask for more from her when pulling a prank, right?"

_Oh, I'm fairly certain that if I wanted to, I could get her to join in a prank,_ Harry thought to himself, but nodded anyway. "Right, well, I'm here to get said lovely lady," he explained. "We've got a bit of a lesson to have, after all."

"You are going to teach the rest of us at some stage, aren't you?" Ginny asked right away. Harry had the immediate suspicion that Colin was still quite worried about the prank, and keeping as quiet as possible.

"You've got Kailyn on your team, why not just ask her to teach you?"

"You're the leader of the DA," Colin said instantly, to which Ginny nodded.

Harry just sighed and ran a hand through his midnight locks, trying to relieve a touch of his own tension. Everyone else seemed to be trying to relax today - and in truth, seeing that was helping him do the same, if he stopped to think about it - but being reminded how he was leading a group of students to become fighters didn't help matters.

"Later, alright?" he suggested. He didn't wait for an answer from them before sweeping passed them and into the library, his green cloak billowing behind him in the breeze caused by the doors. For some reason, he didn't think he'd ever get tired of that sensation.

He spotted Hermione easily, and went to her table - he had almost no doubts that Madame Pince had actually engraved Hermione's name into the surface by now - and sat down beside her before she even noticed him.

"I thought you said you had no interest in learning Arithmancy," she said with a grin as she looked up from her books. "But you did promise me some time to teach you a bit about Ancient Runes at some stage, given that it's one thing like language that you can't understand without trying. Sorry, right now, it's..." She was forced to stop as Harry pressed his lips against hers lightly, eliciting a soft purr of appreciation from the back of her throat. "Not in the library," she whispered as he pulled back. "I thought I told you that before..."

"Sorry," Harry said with a grin as he leaned back, though he wasn't the least bit sorry and she knew it. "Kailyn sent me to find you, actually. She wanted to give us a bit of a lesson involving escaping, like she promised a couple of days ago," he explained. "Seemed to think we'd find it useful, given how I faired against Snape in that duel a few weeks ago, remember?"

It had been the first time either of them had mentioned that lesson, or anything surrounding it, since the morning after when Hermione had said she forgave what he had said. He saw her face darken briefly, but when she looked back to him, there was no trace of it again. "So, now then?"

He nodded and leaned in a little closer. "I'm not going to do anything stupid to end this, 'Mione," he whispered, looking directly into her soft, earth toned eyes. He could literally see the light come in from behind them at his words, watch the cinnamon that had been missing for the passed couple of days come back to life as she smiled to him. "Like you said, I've got a promise to keep you, remember? Your dream... I want it to."

If he was startled to see the tears spring to her eyes suddenly, he didn't show it. He did find her hand on the table easily and gave it a little squeeze to reassure her that he meant what he had said. Though he had promised it the morning after, he suspected that she thought he was just saying it to keep her happy. He meant it, though.

She wiped her eyes just as quickly as she stood up, piling her books into her bag so they could leave to find the classroom that Kailyn had chosen this time. Harry admitted that he didn't know where it was for once, which was probably part of what she expected - they had to find her, and then be ready.

They made their way back to Gryffindor tower first to drop off Hermione's bag and for her to retrieve her cloak. Once she had pulled it on over her school robes, she saw that Harry had pulled his hood up, and did the same. It was surely one of the stranger sights for the first and second years who were lazing about the common room - seeing two older students with dark green cloaks hiding themselves as they crept from the room and through the portrait hole.

The one thing that they knew for certain about Kailyn's lessons now were that they were real - she might not be going full out by any means, but she wouldn't hesitate to actually hurt them if it would help improve their abilities, either. Hermione was just thankful for all the tutoring she had been given by Talisien thus far.

They also knew that she wouldn't go to certain parts of the castle - being interrupted by Snape in the dungeons would not be a good idea, and they all knew it. While that did significantly decrease the grounds to search, they still had a lot of areas to cover.

Harry and Hermione moved and searched without words. There was the occasional glance and one or two sharp hisses - This way! or Been that way- but otherwise, they moved completely in tandem with the other. It was another testament to how well they knew each other and how easily they could work together.

It was for that reason that, when Harry motioned Hermione into a classroom urgently, she darted inside without even thinking about it. He followed immediately thereafter, but rolled to the side quickly as he drew his dagger from the sheath. She still felt it a little wrong to be calling a weapon with a foot long blade a dagger, but it wasn't the time to think about such things.

Kailyn attacked almost instantly from the open doorway. It was immediately apparent that they hadn't been tracking her, but rather, the other way around entirely. As she forced Harry backwards, rolling onto his back, but not giving him a chance to recover before attacking again, Hermione drew her own weapon and shot into the fray to help.

Kailyn met her charge with one of her swords, while keeping the other trained on Harry as she held his blade against it. Without warning, she suddenly flitted out of sight, and Hermione buckled, ending on her knees next to Harry as he pulled himself up. They grasped each other's hands to help each other stand again, and then tried to figure out where the half elf first year had vanished to.

It was in that moment that both decided that they really didn't like that particular talent.

She reappeared behind them both, and the only warning either of them had was a slight prickling sensation on the back of their necks. Hermione pushed Harry one way as she leapt the other, hoping to save them both and give them enough time to figure out what was going on again.

Without warning, Hermione found her dagger lost from her grip as it spun through the air, impaling itself into the wooden door that had been swung shut. It seemed to her that when Kailyn wanted to disarm someone, it was nearly impossible to prevent. That was her cue to bow out of the fight quickly, so she leapt backwards - staying on the toes of her feet as she had quickly learned was the easiest way to do so - and found that the half elf apparently had no intention of letting her off so easily.

"Wepeo lewer!" Harry said in a harsh - but somehow quiet at the same time - voice. She didn't have a chance to ask what that meant before he had thrown himself on Kailyn from behind, tackling the smaller student easily, keeping her from attacking Hermione. For her part, Hermione took the chance to grab her dagger from the door before turning back.

Harry had dropped his own blade, and had a hold of both of Kailyn's wrists now, fighting to keep her swords at bay. With a sudden twist, he pulled himself down so he was beneath her - a move that made no sense to Hermione, given that he had lost his leverage completely - but before she could act at all, he kicked up suddenly, flipping Kailyn off him and into the air.

He grabbed at his dagger instantly as he rolled to his feet again to stand next to Hermione once again. A quick glance to the door before Kailyn could get to her feet was all the encouragement she needed to pull it open and let both of them dart outside before slamming it shut again.

They heard a twin set of thuds before the door was pulled open. Kailyn had sheathed her swords again, and was smiling at them. Harry had already sheathed his own dagger and was pulling his hood down, so Hermione figured it was a good time to do the same.

Despite herself, she breathed a sigh of relief as the blade slide back into the leather case, allowing the magics that always appeared as a living entity all around her to disappear again. It might have been a terrific blade, but it was rather confusing...

"That was a bit unexpected, wouldn't you say?" Kailyn asked with a grin, rolling back onto the balls of her feet as she looked up to both of them. "Caught you by surprise?"

"That's for sure," Harry agreed, shaking his head in amusement. If anyone else even considered trying what she had done to them, he knew that neither Hermione nor himself would have just run away - they would have left the attacker at least stunned first.

Before Hermione could say anything on the matter, there was a loud chime in the castle announcing that it was four in the afternoon. Once the clock had struck four times, Kailyn looked back to them quickly. "Look, I was supposed to be in a study group for Potions this afternoon, and then one for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Granddad'll kill me if I don't ace his test!"

"Alright, see you later then, Kai," Harry said with a wink to Hermione. "We won't tell him you're skivving off your job or anything."

Although it was a fast motion, it looked almost like Kailyn wanted to throw something at them before she giggled in response and took off down the corridors. "There's no running in the halls, Kailyn!" Hermione shouted after her before looking to Harry. "I mean, honestly, shouldn't she know better by now?"

"Well, maybe if the Gryffindor Prefects didn't spend most of their time doing just that, then she might get the hint a bit better," Harry replied. He knew teasing her about her duties no longer phased her, given how the prefects had been organized that year. It really made little sense why the decision was made so late.

"Spending time with first years now, Potter?" Harry look over his shoulder to find Malfoy walking up behind them, though neither of his cronies were with him for once. "Granger not good enough in bed for you?"

"Sod off, Malfoy."

"Or maybe," the Slytherin continued with a smirk as he passed them on his way to the Great Hall. "Maybe, you're just prepping her, for when your mudblood gets killed off. Need someone to run to, won't you?"

It was probably the greatest testament of Harry's willpower not to attack Malfoy from behind at that statement, though he was rooted to the floor and shaking in controlled rage. "No one will ever harm her, Malfoy!"

"No?" The blonde turned around to face them and shrugged. "Well, what do I know, anyway? Planning on skipping Hogsmeade in a couple of weeks, are you?"

"I don't care if there aren't any teachers around, you won't get _near_ the woman who holds my heart, hear me, Malfoy?" Harry demanded, taking a careful step towards him. His left hand - hidden beneath his dark green cloak - was rubbing between the hilt to his dagger and the end of his normal wand, itching to put either to use suddenly. "I've fought with scum far worse than you... like your dear dad! Still on the lamb, is he? Wonder why that is..."

"My father will make sure she pays, Potter!" Malfoy yelled in return. "She's the reason you all managed to escape last year, and she's the reason the Dark Lord had to punish them all so badly!"

"If he's going to go after anyone, it should be me, got it, ferret boy?" Harry growled at him, his voice deep and foreboding almost beyond recognition. "I was the reason it failed last year, and dear daddy Malfoy shouldn't care about anyone but me, got it?"

"It's you who don't get it, hero-boy!" Malfoy laughed and shook his head. By now, a few other people had heard the shouting and had gathered around to watch. "She's the one who gave you enough strength to fight back! Well, her and that damn mutt, and we all know what that got him! The mudblood's next!"

It was the second time in the same year that Harry had drawn his wand without thinking, and the second time a deafening bang sent Malfoy flying backwards through the air to crash hard against the stone wall behind him - though last time, it was the wall of the train, instead. It was also the second time that Harry had no idea what spell he had cast.

He was breathing heavily, trying to calm his anger down as fast as possible. He didn't want to risk looking to Hermione - for fear of invading her mind again by mistake - so he stood there, wand drawn, knuckles white, as he closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind as McGonagall had taught him.

"It's over, Harry," Hermione whispered from beside him, putting a hand on his arm to try and help. "And it's just as well you blasted him - I was about to slap him again..."

He looked down to her quickly in surprise, a grin actually playing at his lips. "Too bad," he whispered. "I'd have liked a repeat..."

"Mr. Potter!" They both looked away from each other to find a rather familiar - if currently unwelcome - being standing before them, shrouded in his green cloak as always. "I understand that magics in the halls are forbidden... that would be a detention, my office tonight at seven. Am I clear?"

"Professor, sir, it should be more than that!" Harry willed himself to remain calm at the sound of Malfoy's voice trying to earn him more trouble. "He attacked me with my back turned and everything! I didn't even have my wand out!"

"Hmm... I knew I was forgetting something," Talisien said calmly, turning to the Slytherin sixth year easily. "Thank you for reminding me, Mr. Malfoy."

"No problem, sir!"

"That's twenty five points from Slytherin for using a term that I will not allow to be repeated, and you are to serve your detention with our Professor for Care of Magical Creatures, for both trying to start the duel and for _lying to a Professor..._" he said with a simple nod, turning back to Harry and Hermione again as though to say something else.

"What? That's not fair!"

"Not fair, Mr. Malfoy?" The Wanderer whirled on him again so fast it looked like he simply merged to change directions - no movement was seen save for his cloak billowing about him as he turned. "Not fair would be insulting those who can not defend themselves... not fair is threatening those who do not deserve it... not fair would be refusing to fulfill Hagrid's request. I believe he said something about English lessons for a friend of his, come to think of it."

Although the school was somewhat aware of the fact that there was now a giant living in the Forbidden Forest - which was a very good reason to avoid it if there wasn't one beforehand - few knew the full details like Harry and Hermione did. They could have sworn they saw Talisien wink at them as he passed the entire crowd without saying another word.

The encounter was actually all that was heard to be spoken of at supper that night, and in the Gryffindor common room until the clock inside chimed seven times for Harry to leave.

"I still think it's unfair, getting a detention for beating on Malfoy," Ron muttered to him as he passed. "It's not like you transfigured him or anything."

"He did attack him in the halls, though," Hermione pointed out. "But only because he's faster than me," she added in a whisper to them both, earning a grin from Harry and an expletive that she scolded Ron about moments later.

* * *

"Professor?" Harry pushed open the door to the office for his Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and found it was empty - the fireplace was dwindling to nothing, and the torches weren't even lit. "Hello?" 

"This way, Harry."

He turned quickly to find the Wanderer already walking in the opposite direction. It was a struggle to catch up without running, and even to match the rapid pace they were setting made him work a bit harder than he had expected.

"Where are we going, Talisien?"

The elf didn't answer him at all, but Harry had a good idea by then as to just where they were heading anyway. They had passed by the Great Hall already, though had seen very few students anywhere. When the large double doors parted before them, revealing the cool night sky and darkened grounds, his thoughts were confirmed.

"It is not much further now," Talisien said calmly. It amazed Harry that the elf wasn't even breathing heavily after setting such a rapid pace... but then, considering how he usually moved without even being seen, this probably was rather simple for him.

Soft moonbeams fell silently through the thin branches of the trees overhead when the two finally came to a stop inside the Forbidden Forest. They weren't deep enough in to find themselves in total darkness yet, but the grounds were completely hidden from view.

Talisien motioned to the ground next to one of the massive trees, and Harry took that as an invitation to take a seat. Once down, the elf was sitting across from him instantly. "I am sure you have heard that Hermione's detention was not exactly the most normal one in the world, correct?"

"She said that you weren't even there, but Fey was, and she taught her some things about inner magics," Harry admitted. "What are you planning now? I actually did something wrong, unlike her..."

"And what was that, Harry?"

"I attacked Malfoy," he said simply. "He might have insulted and threatened Hermione, but I shouldn't have attacked him like that."

"Would he have attacked you?"

"He was reaching for his wand, I believe."

"But he didn't have it drawn?"

"No."

Talisien nodded and leaned back. The brown orbs of light vanished from inside the hood suddenly, telling Harry that the elf had his eyes closed. "What else did you do, then? That isn't enough to warrant a detention like this..."

Harry was taken aback by the odd approach his teacher was taking. If attacking Malfoy wasn't enough to deserve a detention, what else had he done? It took him a moment or two to think of what Talisien had said in the past would upset him the most. "I called Malfoy ferret boy," Harry admitted. "Long story involved... let's just say I called him a bad name, and leave it at that."

"Very well," Talisien said with a nod. To Harry's surprise, the elf then lifted a hand towards him. He felt a tremendous pressure on his ribs suddenly before being crushed into the tree behind him. The feeling lifted quickly enough, but it had certainly lasted long enough to be considered painful.

"What..."

"You have now been punished. Next time, it will be more severe," he explained. "It is one of the elven punishments - the more you are forced to endure it, the more painful it becomes. Our young learn quickly not to insult others - we live by what we teach, Harry."

"I shouldn't have sunk to his level, then, right?"

"Good."

The two sat in relative silence before the sound of movement behind them startled Harry into a standing position again. "It is safe in the forest like this?" he asked, thinking of all the different creatures he had encountered in previous years. "I mean..."

"Few creatures of the night would dare to approach an elf in the first place," Talisien said calmly. "Besides, they do not fear harm to the forest with me present. Your dagger also has a calming effect on creatures of the woods - like it has a calming effect on your mind."

Without even realising it, Harry drew the foot long blade easily from the sheath at his side to inspect it. "I've been meaning to ask you about this, actually..."

"Let her hold it," Talisien interrupted. "It is as simple as that... if you allow her to hold it, then it will allow her into your mind. If one tries to take it by force, however, it will not bode well for them."

"So, if Hermione holds this, then I won't break into her mind by mistake?"

"Do you trust her?" At the pointed look Harry gave him, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Right, I understand that feeling, don't worry. In that case, I would suggest letting her hold it."

"Why did you have it in the first place, if you don't mind my asking, that is..." Harry said quickly, looking up to meet the elf's gaze. "I mean, it doesn't seem like you'd ever have to worry about a mental intrusion or anything like that."

"Did I ever tell you that that is what the dagger is for?"

"Well, yeah, something like that, anyway. You told Hermione that I needn't fear..."

"And I meant it, don't worry," the elf again cut him off, though more gently this time. "The dagger is meant to provide protection when we need it the most. It saved my life more times than I care to admit, actually. I'm hoping it can provide similar protection to you, should the need arise."

"Thank you," Harry said simply, though he wished for words that were stronger. The gift that he had been given really was priceless, and he knew it.

"As to how I obtained it... that is a story that would take much longer than a single detention. However, I wish to discuss an opportunity with you, if you are willing." At Harry's nod, he continued, lowering his hood first. "I have seen you using various wandless spells in the past few months, Harry. I say wandless because what you are doing is not inner magics like your Hermione managed... but your normal spells without a wand."

"On occasion," Harry admitted. "But it's nothing special."

"I also heard about your outburst over the holidays... your duel early on this term did wonders to spread that story around, actually." He ignored Harry's groan just as he had ignored his words about the ability. "That ability is even stranger... and one I would like to help you with. It seems to be linked to your emotions."

Harry had the distinct impression that the elf was guiding the conversation in exactly the direction he wanted, regardless of what he suggested. "I can agree to that - say, twice a week after supper- if you can tell me something about this dagger," he suggested, lifting the blade and catching it in a bit of the eerie glow from the moon

"It is called the Oakrium, and has been in my family for generations," Talisien replied almost instantly. "It is an elven honour blade, passed from father to son whenever the need arose. In this case, I felt you needed it more than my own son."

"Kailyn's father?"

"The same," Talisien whispered. "He's in good hands - the human woman he chose as his mate is simply amazing - and is sufficiently busy leading a castle of his own in a distant land. It is a gathering point for magical creatures that aren't witches or wizards - creatures like elves, cat-people, or others like your goblins..."

"And you're sure he doesn't need it?"

"As surely as Greensleeves no longer needs her Sutadin," the Wanderer whispered. "He is strong on his own, without the power from our bloodline." He then looked to Harry sharply. "I do not mean we had a falling out or anything of the sort - he is simply strong enough without the power of this blade. As am I at this stage. You, on the other hand, have great need of it's strength. Use it well."

"I have been, and I don't intend to stop." As he sheathed the dagger again, something the elf had just said caught his mind again. "The Sutadin?"

"Surely you didn't think that the dagger your Hermione is using would have been without a name..."

"What is it's power, then?" He knew that Hermione had told him it held no power, but he wanted to make sure. "I just know that there is magics involved in it, right?"

"Those who are blind are not kept from seeing." The words meant absolutely nothing to the young wizard, who ran his fingers through his black hair in an attempt not to lose his patience with his teacher. Talisien was probably the most likely elf to speak in such complicated tones - all the others answered his questions directly. He knew that he must have a reason for it, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.

"Is that so?" It wasn't what he wanted to ask, but he couldn't make much sense of what had just been said anyway.

"In our next lesson, I wish to speak to you about the forest of Noyadin," Talisien offered softly as he stood up, offering a hand to Harry in the process. "Until then... you might notice that being in the forest like this can help calm your nerves."

To his surprise, the elf seemed to be right about that. Nothing had really been helping recently with his relaxation, and he was starting to think nothing would let him forget his problems so he could succeed in a complete transformation.

"Would it be alright if I came back to the forest on occasion to calm down?"

"As your teacher, I must forbid such activity," Talisien said solemnly as they started back. Once his hood was in place, he looked down at him again. "However, as a friend, I would strongly suggest it. Good luck, young lyra."

Harry had no chance to ask just how he knew his animagus form before the elf had vanished again.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	33. Willow and Tor

Chapter Thirty Three: Willow and Tor 

Two days later found Harry walking towards the Forbidden Forest alone and completely silent. Hermione was doing something as a prefect - he hadn't really caught what, but given that she was gone after telling him, he figured it hadn't really mattered. She just had to deal with it, and he understood that.

The grounds were quite warm, considering the day, and a gentle breeze rustled the branches of the trees the deeper he stepped into the woods. A month ago - even three days ago, really - he would have been worried about walking into the forest and making too much noise, being caught by something vicious...

Now, however, he barely made a sound even as he walked over the brittle twigs on the ground. The sun was slowly disappearing through the canopy above, and he felt almost as though his worries were disappearing with it.

The previous night had been a wonderful one, with Hermione cuddling up next to him again and the two just talking to each other... something they hadn't truly done for quite some time, in his mind. Everyone said that they could say more with just a glance than anyone else, but nothing really makes up for full words. She was getting ready to prepare a studying schedule for the two of them, and was going to offer to make Ron's again as usual as well - she wasn't just going to do it, though, out of respect for Luna. Maybe she would convince Ron to actually study properly...

Harry doubted _anyone_ had that much power.

He had also let her hold his dagger, like Talisien had suggested, which had opened their minds to each other again. He didn't have to fear looking her in the eye anymore when he was angry - he knew she would try to take away some of that emotion again now, and it was safe to do so again. He had been especially worried that he might invade her mind again by mistake just by meeting her eyes ever since it had happened over the holidays, so that was a great relief for him.

As he took a seat on the forest floor beneath a large oak tree - so large that he couldn't have wrapped his arms even halfway around it if he tried - he realised that things really were seeming to calm down. He no longer felt as bad about the prophecy dragging him down, now that those who had fought for it last year knew the full truth about it. He had seen all of them relaxing over the past few weeks as well... in fact, if he thought about it, the entire term since they had returned from holidays.

They must have seen that I was trying to relax, and thought it would help them, too,' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. Talisien really was right - despite the odd sounds every now and then, the forest was rather peaceful. While he did love his friends, a bit of solitude every now and then really helped as well.

Hello, Harry. He started suddenly and looked up quickly to find a small brown bird with a white breast sitting on a branch, chirping at him. Didn't mean to startle you, sorry.

You know my name, do you? he asked, regaining his wits a little. Even though he knew he could talk literally any language on the planet didn't mean he was used to it by any means. Am I that famous in the woods, too? he added sarcastically.

Not really, no, the small bird replied. It seemed to puff it's wings up a bit before settling down again to look to him once more. But the Wanderer does mention you from time to time.

Harry could only nod at that news. He hadn't expected the elf to be able to talk with the animals on quite the same level that he could. You're a nightingale, aren't you?

If it were possible for a bird to look startled without actually taking flight, then Harry wouldn't have known before that moment. How did you know that? You don't learn that type of thing in the school, do you?

No, Harry admitted. But I guess some things like that just come to me now, given what I can do.

What you can do?

Yeah, Harry said with a shrug. Or did you think all humans could talk with birds?

You are the first human I have tried to talk to like this, actually, the nightingale admitted. So, point of fact, I didn't consider it.

Oh. It didn't seem like quite the right thing to say, but nothing else really did, either. He had assumed that Hagrid would have at least tried to speak to most of the animals in the Forbidden Forest - though to be honest, Harry suspected that the small bird wasn't dangerous enough to capture his half-giant friend's attention in the slightest. When you sing, do you sing words, or notes?

What makes you think I sing at all, Harry?

Don't all nightingale's sing? Isn't that, you know... part of being a nightingale?

The bird spread her wings and flew down to land on Harry's knee - a bold move from such a normally timid animal if he had ever seen one. I don't know if I use words or not, actually. Do you want to find out?

I wouldn't mind a song right now, truth be told, Harry said after a moment of thought. The forest was already relatively relaxing, but a song would only increase that.

He pulled his hood down just as the pleasantly warm notes started to sound through the otherwise still evening air. He was sure that the sun was starting to set by now, but he couldn't force himself to care about that as the notes surrounded him, enveloping his hearing, his sight, his mind. While he had suspected that a bird's song would be shrill and irritating - especially up close like he was now - the nightingale's voice was incredible. He wondered if it was magical or not, but again, couldn't force himself to care.

He had felt this way before... Hermione's embrace had a similar effect on him, but he rarely simply accepted it without thought. He was still more apprehensive about physical interactions than he could admit to her, though he suspected she understood that anyway. She understood him so well, he didn't really have to worry about it.

This was different, though. While he knew that he would have preferred Hermione's arms to wrap about him without a care in the world, the music was just about as good, and he felt his mind starting to simply let go.

When the notes finally died down, he had to force his eyes open - he would have been much happier if the small bird had simply started to sing again, but he didn't want to voice that. He was surprised, however, to see that the nightingale was hoping from one tiny little foot to the other and looking at him anxiously.

That sounded wonderful, little girl, he said with a smile. Now that the music had stopped, a sudden thought came to him, an idea that he didn't want wasted. Do you know why I came to the forest this time?

You needed to relax, right?

He looked at the tiny bird in surprise. Just how much did Talisien tell the forest about me, anyway? He shook his head before the bird could reply. Never mind. Anyway, you're right, that's why I came. Being here, coupled with that song, actually helped quite a bit. The fact that I'll be returning to my mate shortly helps, too.

Mate? The small nightingale looked almost shocked at that - and a shocked nightingale was enough to make Harry grin broadly.

Sorry, that's the term that Talisien and his granddaughter keep using. Hermione, my girlfriend. She's... well, she's not my mate yet, I'll put it that way, but one day...

She's very lucky, isn't she?

I think I'm the lucky one to have found her, actually. He then shook his head again, trying to get back to the point he was trying to make earlier. There's something I want to try, but I don't want to frighten you. Is there any chance that you could...

I don't wish to leave just yet, if that's okay, the nightingale interrupted him, much to his surprise. But I will return to the tree branch to watch.

Once the bird had settled again, Harry closed his eyes carefully. With his worries washed away by the song of the nightingale and the fact that he'd be seeing Hermione again very soon, he felt a tremendous calm wash over him as he took a deep breath. Focusing his energy inward, the rush of power caught him completely off guard.

When he opened his eyes again, everything looked different. Well, not so much different, really, but he was seeing everything from a different angle. He lifted a hand to his face, and found instantly that he had a paw rather than a hand.

Where Harry Potter had been sitting moments earlier sat a large, beautiful animal with rich grey fur that was mottled with black splotches. He was actually taller sitting down in his new form than he had been when sitting down as a human - given that sitting down to a cat was essentially just sitting on your haunches, leaving your head and shoulders almost right where they were when standing - and Harry was a big feline.

Testing out muscles that he didn't understand at all allowed an odd blue glow to overtake the small clearing as his wings shimmered into existence and he beat them slowly and powerfully. Even though there wasn't really enough room for his nearly eight foot wingspan, the vibrant blue wings easily passed clear through all obstacles in their paths, letting him lift off the ground by a few feet before he started to slow down again to land.

He landed all in a heap, and he had the distinct impression that the nightingale was laughing at him. Looking up at the small bird, he bared his fangs at her in a growl. Impressive, Harry, the bird chirped to him. It looks like you have your form down pat now.

Instantly, on a simple thought, Harry returned to his human form. The first thing he did once he was sitting again was to check his side for his wands and dagger. Both were still there without question - a fact that meant a lot to him.

He then grinned. He had perfected his lyra form. He was now officially an full fledged animagi. That could only mean one thing.

Hermione had to tell him his nickname now!

I'll see you again, little nightingale, Harry whistled to her as he changed back into the massive feline and started through the forest at an impressively fast rate - much faster than he could have managed normally, anyway. I've got to go find Mione!

The moment he burst free from the Forbidden Forest, he leapt into the air to change back into himself again. He wasn't expecting the momentum, however, and as his feet hit the ground running, he stumbled and flipped over, landing hard on his front.

Groaning, he pushed himself up to find himself eye to eye suddenly with a brown haired kneazle with deep cinnamon earth eyes. That could have been done with a bit more grace, I imagine, Hermione purred to him in her laughing tone. It hadn't taken long for him to identify that, although feline creatures couldn't actually laugh - it often sounded more like a sneeze if they tried - the tone in their voices would say alot. In a hurry, were you?

Mione, I was just trying to get back to the castle so I could show you something! He then paused and sat up, letting Willow jump into his lap - a somewhat common position to find the two of them in from time to time. First, how were your rounds? You seem to be having a lot more this year than last year, are they doing any good?

You could say that, she purred, snuggling into his warmth. While there wasn't any snow on the ground and the breeze was a gentle, warm one, it was still the beginning of February. What's your news?

He grinned and started petting her carefully, enjoying the sensation of her relaxing in his lap because of it. What nickname are you giving me, Willow?

I thought Willow' told you earlier - I'm not telling you until you have perfected your form... she trailed off and leapt from his lap in an instant, turning to face him quickly. He had to hand it to her - as a kneazle, she had the behaviour down rather well. Did you manage it?

Rather than answer in words, he rolled backwards and changed at the same time, ending up in his lyra form in a crouch, looking as though he was ready to pounce. Thanks to thoughts of you, some advice from Talisien, and a little nightingale, he said proudly. I was starting to think it would never happen.

To his surprise, Hermione changed back to herself rather than stay in her kneazle form and knelt beside him. The feeling of her arms around his broad feline shoulders was quite different from a normal hug, but he couldn't say it was a bad thing, either. "C'mon," she suggested, standing and starting towards the lake. "I'll tell you your nickname - complete with explanation - on a walk around the lake, alright?"

"Isn't it almost curfew now, though?" Harry asked, surprised at the English passing his new mouth. He had fully expected to answer in kneazle instead, truth be told.

"Just this once, I think we'll be alright. Besides," she added, reaching into a pocket of her robes and withdrawing just a small piece of a shimmering fabric. "I came prepared, just in case."

When Hermione started walking towards the lake, Harry decided to simply trot alongside her in his animal form, rather than change back right away. Now that he had figured it out properly, he wanted to enjoy it for a little while at least before it was time to hide it from the world again.

"I'm quite proud of you, by the way," Hermione started slowly. She then looked down to her feline companion. "I knew you could do it eventually, of course, but I didn't know when. Good job."

"Thanks," Harry said with as much of a grin as he could muster. He'd have to read up on proper lyra behaviour... if such a thing had ever been recorded. Otherwise, he assumed that leopard would be just as good - unless he spread his wings, that's what he looked like after all.

"Anyway, you know that I did some research into the elven histories, right?" she asked. Not giving him a chance to reply, since she knew he did know, she went on quickly. "I looked into Talisien's family line as well, just because I was curious, and found something that's simply amazing - it would make Hagrid weak at the knees, I think."

"What, was there a dragon tamer in the batch?" Harry asked sarcastically. "Or a tamer of something even more dangerous?" He had to turn around and trot back to her when he noticed that she had stopped walking suddenly. "What?"

"How did you know that?"

"I didn't," Harry admitted. "But that's all I could come up with for making Hagrid jealous," he added before sitting in front of her, keeping his head up just a foot and a half below hers. He was being very careful not to look straight ahead, however, given where his head level ended up on her. "What, you mean there was a dragon tamer?"

"Close enough," she replied as she started walking again. "A dragonrider, actually. The last one in history - he could speak with dragons, and was the rider of two separate dragons - one called a green dragon, the other a white one. I can only assume that they didn't have different names for the breeds of dragons back then like we do now. The only problem is that there isn't a breed of white dragon..."

"Let me guess," Harry said as dryly as he could manage. "You read into dragons too, once you found out that bit of information."

"Of course," she said as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "Thing is, there's almost no mention of any breed of dragon that's even close to white. That's not to say there aren't mentions of a legend surrounding such a breed, but none have ever been found to date."

"So what does this have to do with the name you've picked out for me?"

He was forced to stop moving and simply purr into her hand when she started scratching behind his ears. Once she stopped, he found himself longing for her touch again, but forced himself to look around. They had walked about halfway around the lake, and had a perfect view of the castle now.

"I'm getting to that, don't worry," she promised. "Anyway, an elf by the name of Noyad - that's of Oak, by the way, in case that wasn't obvious - was the last dragonrider, like I said. After his first dragon was killed, another dragon offered himself to him - the white dragon."

"And?"

"And... I thought I'd use the name of that dragon. How's Tor sound to you?"

"How was Noyad related to Talisien, anyway?" Harry asked rather than reply to her question right away. "Not his grandfather, by any chance, was he?"

"Actually, yes," Hermione said, surprised again by his guess. "He was a hero of the Ancient War - he lead the resistance to victory. He was a better leader than any could have hoped for, and..."

"Was a psychopath, willing and able to kill any and all who got in his way," Harry finished for her. The look on her face told him that that wasn't what she was going to say at all, and it was his turn for a bit of history. "Honestly, Mione, you didn't think he was just a nice guy, great leader, did you?"

"That's what it says in the history books that I could find," she objected. "What makes you say something so horrible about him?"

"Talisien told me," he explained with a shrug. Although he had told Hermione about the talk he had had with the Wanderer, he had left out the story about Talisien's grandfather - it wasn't really something that needed to be spread around, all things considered.

He noticed her biting her lower lip in thought, and closed his maw carefully, deciding not to say anything else until she spoke up. He hated interrupting her studying at the best of times - he knew how important it was to her - and she held that same look this time, too. "Do you want a different name, then? I wasn't trying to name you after anything related to..."

"I can stick with Tor," Harry interrupted her. "I know Noyad's story, but that doesn't mean I'm anything like him."

Hermione sat down beside him and leaned against his strong form. Despite the fact that his wings would go right through her, he still lifted one as though to hold her close to him, and was pleased to see her smile in reaction to the movement.

"Have you tried your wings yet, Tor?" she asked with a grin. "Go flying without a broom or anything?"

Harry shook his head, looking directly at her with his ocean green eyes. If it were possible, she figured that they were even more expressive now than when he was himself. "I didn't want to go flying for the first time without you," he explained easily. Before she could pull away, he changed back into himself to wrap an arm around her and pull her closer into an embrace. "I wanted to share that experience with you, Mione."

"Honestly, Harry, you know I don't like flying..."

"Are you scared of heights?"

"No, it's just that..." When she trailed off, she actually burrowed a little closer to him. Without warning, he was suddenly holding Willow again instead of Hermione. I don't like not being in control, and brooms and other flying things are so hard to make listen...

I wouldn't let you fall, you know. It would just be a quick flight over the lake, and then we'd set down again, Harry suggested with a soft mew. Just once?

We wouldn't go too high would we? she mewed back, looking up plaintively at him. He grinned - he knew that she was in the process of agreeing with him - and she purred as she settled into his lap again. When you transform again, I'll leap onto your back.

You want to fly with me as a kneazle? Harry asked, surprised. He had figured she'd be more comfortable in her normal form.

I can dig in with claws if I have to... The purr was almost so soft that he didn't catch the words that went with it.

For my sake, then, as well as yours, it will be as smooth a trip as I can make it, okay?

Without waiting for an answer, he set Willow down carefully and changed back to the large lyra known as Tor. Ready, my Mia?

You always do that, don't you? she asked as she leapt onto his back. In her animal form, he barely felt her weight at all, and knew he'd have to concentrate a lot to make sure he didn't shift her by mistake.

Do what?

Switch between different names you call me...

Sorry, he said with the best shrug he could pull off in current form. I'll stick to one if that's what you want.

So long as you don't start calling me your queen, I don't mind if you switch every now and then, Harry, she purred, snuggling into his back - much to his surprise. My Harry.

You got that right, he said with a sneeze. He had meant to chuckle, but he didn't remember Hermione's experience trying to laugh or giggle as a kneazle. He doubted he'd ever really be able to prevent himself from trying to laugh, though. You ready?

As ready as I'll ever be, she admitted. He felt a slight poke in his shoulder blades suddenly, and suspected that it could have been her claws. If that were the case, then he shouldn't have been worried about them earlier - he barely felt them.

Standing to all fours was the easy part. Harry then closed his eyes and flexed the muscles for his wings carefully, pulling both out from wherever they stayed hidden, bathing the small area in a brilliant blue glow. With a great push from all of his legs, he started flapping his wings, sensing innately where the air currents that he needed were.

It took almost no time at all to be over fourty feet in the air, at which point he felt Hermione's claws dig in a little deeper. Still, there was not much pain involved, which was just as well. He wanted to be able to concentrate on his flying.

This is high enough, right Harry? Hermione asked him from his back.

For now, he conceded as he started to fly in a lazy circle around the outside of the lake. Once he had flown about halfway, he faltered slightly at the sudden increase of weight on his back.

"This is alright, isn't it?"

He felt Hermione's legs on his sides and felt her hands tugging at the hair at his neck as she pressed herself against him. If he had been on the ground, he might have noticed how incredible such a feeling was, but in the air, he didn't want to suddenly plummet for losing focus...

After the third time around the lake, Hermione was actually enjoying herself enough not to hold on for dear life. He actually heard her cry out in joy at one stage before clamping her hands over her mouth - night was fully upon them now, and he doubted she wanted to draw attention to themselves.

Of course, his bright blue glowing wings couldn't do that on their own, could they?

Just as they started down again, he felt Hermione lean into him again. "Isn't that a heliopath in the field down there?" she called almost directly into his ear. It wasn't that she was trying to deafen him, but she did want to make sure he heard her.

Looking to where she was pointing, Harry sneezed again suddenly and then shook his head. "Actually, I don't think so," he said, trying to keep the smirk out of his voice. "I believe they tend to like sticking together for the most part. However, it wouldn't surprise me if that was Luna," he admitted.

He was pleasantly surprised when he felt her legs tighten their hold on his sides suddenly. "How did you know that Luna's an animagus?"

That had been one of the last things he had expected to hear, truth be told. "Uh... how do you know?" he countered.

"I asked first."

"She told me that evening we went out to the lake. Now your turn."

"Well..."

Harry stepped onto the ground beside the pillar of flames and folded his wings back up almost at once. The sensation of passing the translucent elements of flight through Hermione was one he doubted he could have explained to anyone, even her, but before he had a chance to ask her to dismount so he could change into a human again, he heard a rather familiar chirping from behind him at the same time as Luna crackled a good morning.'

It's evening Luna, he replied with a crackle - one of the oddest sensations of speech he had encountered to date - before turning his head to find the nightingale he had spoken to earlier in the evening in the Forbidden Forest flying straight towards them rapidly.

You are simply impossible to catch up with, Harry!

I wasn't aware I was being followed, actually, he chirped dryly - if that were even possible, a fact that didn't really bother him at the moment. Instead, he shook his back slightly to suggest to Hermione to get off him, and felt her transform before seeing her land in front of him as Willow. Care to answer that question now, Mione?

I'd rather not, but seeing as Ginny's here, too, I doubt it will be too long before Ron and Neville show up too, and it's probably best to explain everything before that happens because then I doubt it will even be possible to be heard above all the noise that is sure to be made over this idea that I had in the beginning of the term and...

Harry surprised even himself when he put a large paw over Hermione's smaller feline maw, effectively silencing her. He sneezed again - much to his discomfort, having wanted to chuckle at her rambling like normal - and sat back on his haunches. You do need to breath, Mione. He then looked to the nightingale more closely. The tiny bird was perched on the a blade of grass in front of him, looking back and forth between Hermione and himself. Let me guess, he chirped. Since Ron and Neville aren't here, you're Ginny, aren't you?

A soft pop later left all four of them in their human forms in an instant, and Harry looking from Hermione to Luna, back to Hermione, and then to Ginny before repeating the whole process. He already understood about Luna - she had explained it rather well, after all - but this was a bit much.

"Now, before I try to explain, Harry, you have to understand that I wasn't trying to upset you," Hermione began. He gave her a pointed look that was interrupted by Luna putting a hand softly on his arm, making him look to her quickly instead.

"I am glad to see you managed to relax enough, Harry," she said in her dreamy voice. "As you saw earlier, I managed it as well, though I did succeed almost a week ago now. It was the day after our little talk that I became a full animagus."

"I only did today, if that's any help," Ginny offered. "I was the last of the four of us - we figure it's because of my first year, and all the memories that go along with that," she added as an afterthought. "Which also explains why you took so long compared to the rest of us."

"Can any of you just tell me what's going on?" Harry asked one more time, closing his eyes and running a hand through his midnight hair. Evasiveness was never something he had been particularly fond of, and this was pushing his limits already.

"I... er..." Hermione started before looking away from him. That told him all he needed to know without her saying anything else.

"You trained them?" He didn't expect a reply, but she did nod slowly. "Just the four of them?" Another nod. "And now, the six of us who went to the Ministry last year... the six who know the full story are all animagi?" One more nod. "Alright..." he said slowly, trying to process the information. "When did you do it? And how? Even better, why? Minerva told us under no circumstances were we to reveal that you were an animagus, or teach anyone else, remember? I thought..."

"I was trying to help," Hermione said softly. "And Ron actually caught me while we were still in your home..."

" - our home - "

"Fine, our home. Ron caught me changing from Willow to myself in our home over the holidays. I had to put a full body bind on him to keep him from running to tell everyone all at once. Once we talking it over calmly and rationally..."

" - Which means she kept him fully bound until she had told him the full story about your training," Ginny pointed out. Hermione just glared at her, but didn't contradict her and simply continued the story.

"We decided that I would train the other four who went to the Ministry. We thought it would be a good talent for us all to have, that's all."

Harry nodded slowly, closing his eyes again to try and keep calm. "And you all kept this from me... why?"

"We didn't want you to worry about it," Luna said before Hermione could reply, even though the question was obviously just meant for her. "None of us did."

"Did it ever occur to you, to any of you, that the whole secrecy thing might have been part of why I was having trouble relaxing all the way? That I was worried that..." he trailed off suddenly and looked straight at Hermione.

"Yeah, he knew," she said with a small grin. "He might not have been happy about it, but I convinced him we weren't doing anything that his own mother wouldn't approve of."

I'm not too sure about that entirely, Harry purred, well aware that she was the only one who would understand what he said. He went on in English before she could reply. "Neville knew too, didn't he?" he asked, remembering a time near the beginning of term when both Ron and Neville had laughed at him for letting Willow into his bed curtains...

"Ron talked to him about it before I could," she admitted. When he continued to simply look at her, she knew instinctively that he wanted more information. "Well, remember the first night of the DA, how you stayed behind with Kailyn - and no, they didn't know why, by the way. Honestly, don't you remember Ron and Ginny's reaction after that time they saw Kailyn stab you?" When he shrugged, she sighed and kept going. "I told the four others then that I intended to do some secret training with only them, but they couldn't mention it to anyone else, not even you. I didn't want you worrying about me getting in trouble for it."

"And you weren't worried?"

"I think you'll find our Hermione's only worried about one thing these days, and it isn't exactly school," Ginny said with a grin. "Well... that too, but there's something higher in her priorities now."

One look to Hermione again told Harry that he didn't have to ask what that was, and that thought actually brought a hint of rose to his cheeks as well. He knew that she was the most important thing in his life, but he didn't know it necessarily went both ways - even though she had said as much to him before.

"After that initial time, I started telling you that I had to do rounds as a prefect - which was technically true, I just didn't do them. Actually, once Colin and Ginny were both made Prefects too, Colin took almost all the Gryffindor shifts at Ginny's request."

"I'll be making it up to him forever, I'm sure," Ginny said with a grin. "Not that I mind..."

"So, Colin knows, too?"

"Nope," Hermione said instantly. Some part of Harry realised that Luna had changed back into a heliopath and was floating lazily around the group, as though trying to get used to her form. He forced himself not to pay attention to the flames that were singing Weasley is Our King,' and to keep paying attention to both Hermione and Ginny. "Neither does Lavender - it just took some fancy explaining. We told her it was prefect duties - an easy excuse when we started using Colin, too, though why she never asked how Neville was involved is beyond me. We told Colin it was something for you that we couldn't talk about, and he never pressed the issue."

Harry nodded and pulled back the hood to his cloak - he had barely even realised it was up this time. "Anything else being kept from me?" he asked in a whisper. He understood why they had done it the way they did, but that didn't necessarily help completely.

"Only that I love you with my mind, body, and soul," Hermione promised in a whisper at the same time that Ginny shook her head. "But I think you already know that."

He nodded his head in confirmation, and couldn't keep the smile off his face. "You realise you broke more school rules now than anyone has since the time of my father?"

"It was an even more noble cause than theirs," she said with a grin of her own. While she didn't relish at any chance to break rules, she had learned by then that sometimes, they did need bending beyond limits.

"Nobler?"

"Well, helping a werewolf through the difficult transformation at risk of pain to yourself is rather noble, don't you think?" Hermione asked. "And helping you so you will be able to defeat Voldemort - with us next to you, I'll remind you now- is even better than that."

"So... we got a name for the group of us, or not?" he asked, a full blown smile on his face now, much to the relief of Hermione and Ginny. "For that matter, do the others have nicknames too?" he asked Hermione directly.

"That's right!" Ginny interrupted before his girlfriend could reply. "Did she tell you your name yet, Harry? I've been dying to know ever since she told us that she has one picked out, but she wouldn't tell us either!"

"Yup, she did," he admitted. "But I'm not telling you what it is either until I learn your names. For that matter, I think we've got to get Ron and Neville down here, too."

Hermione looked up sharply suddenly, and then relaxed again. "No need. They're on their way down from the castle to join us now." Harry didn't ask how she knew this, though Ginny did look at her with some surprise.

The unmistakable sound of Ron and Neville broke the silence that fell moments later - well, silence save for the fire crackling the song that Harry was really starting to hate again, anyway. "So," Ron called once they were close enough to be heard. "Judging from the map, I'm guessing Harry knows now, does he?" He had the spare bit of parchment' out and waved it in front of him. "Saw the lot of you together," he added.

"And when Ron told me, we both decided to come down to join you."

Without warning, Harry transformed into his lyra form and leapt towards the two of them. Ron seemed to vanish from sight almost instantly, but Neville simply leapt backwards and changed himself, meeting Harry's charge head on.

As he leapt backwards, Harry took a good look at the boy that few people would count as important - to their detriment. He was not an animal that Harry recognised. He was actually larger than a lyra, and had brown shaggy fur. While he almost looked like a dog, he knew that there were no dogs anywhere that were anywhere close to that size - he looked like a cross between a dog and a large bear.

Harry looked up on instinct, just in time to see a hawk barrelling down towards him, talons barred. He leapt back again, and this time, spread his wings wide to take flight on his own. With a powerful spin that he barely understood how he pulled off, he caught the hawk fully with his tail, beating it down to the ground, just as the massive dog leapt into the air, taking him down as well.

When all three had turned back into themselves, they were all laughing despite the apparent abuse. "So, both Weasleys can fly, Neville's a beast, and Luna's a heliopath, right?"

"Right," Hermione agreed. "Though beast isn't the actual name, Neville's a..."

"I an amphicyonid," Neville announced proudly. "Er... that's a bear dog," he said at Harry's blank stare. "Not many muggles believe they even exist anymore - I understand from Hermione's books that they think they're wiped out completely, something they call expint or something."

"Extinct, Neville," Hermione said with a groan.

"And I'm a Buteo jamaicensis!" Ron said with a grin. With another blank stare, he sighed. "Fine, but no laughing. I'm a red-tailed hawk."

"At least you aren't a weasel, right?"

"Good point, mate. At least you aren't a snake."

"Ouch, touchÃ©."

"So, what's the latin name for lyra, anyway?" Ron asked. When Harry shrugged, he whirled on Hermione. "Hermione? Didn't you say that..."

"I said that it would be helpful for you to know more about your animal, including the latin name," Hermione interrupted. "I never said you had to memorise every fact about them," she added, looking at Ron, Neville, and Ginny pointedly. "Never mind the fact that you did anyway..."

"But you..."

"So, what's the latin name for nightingale, then?" Harry cut Ron off, preventing the beginning of what was surely an ongoing argument between his two closest friends.

Ginny beamed at him and spread her arms, changing into the small brown and white bird instantly. It's Luscinia megarhynchos, she chirped in response, settling on his shoulder and starting a soft song without warning. When Hermione held out a hand to her, the small bird leapt off his shoulder, flapped her wings once, and then perched on Hermione's finger instead to continue.

"That song's part of the reason I managed to become a complete animagus," Harry explained calmly. "I won't get into what else helped, though."

Once the soft song had finished, lulling all five of the others into a sense of calmness as well, Ginny changed back to herself again. "So, Harry, what name did Willow pick out for you?"

"Oi, mate, I've got a few stories to tell you about ribbing her with that name," Ron said with a chuckle. "And I guess I've gotta tell you now that I've known for a while that she's sleeping with you these days."

"Sleeping next to him!" Hermione hissed out in correction, not wanting to shout lest they gather unwanted attention from the school after curfew had long since fallen.

"Didn't I tell you, my angel?" Harry asked with a grin. "I know we've been sleeping together for a long time now, but the others just wouldn't understand the connection we have..." At his failed attempt to muffle his laughter, Hermione just rolled her eyes and slapped his arm lightly.

"Honestly..." she muttered, despite the light dancing in her own eyes.

"Anyway, Hermione did tell me my name, but the rest of you need names, too."

"Taken care of," Ron said right away. "Willow here knows nothing about this part, either, by the way. I'm Talon, Nev here's Prince, my sister's called Gem, and the love of my life - yeah, that's you, you little bundle of flame!" he called when the heliopath stopped circling and shot forward to practically bounce on top of him. Hagrid was right - the flames mostly tickled when a heliopath was calm. "Luna's called Heat."

"So... Prince, Gem, Heat, Talon, Willow, and Tor," Harry said with a nod. "Good collection of names... I think the Marauders would be proud!"

Ron lifted a hand to his heart suddenly - the motion catching Harry completely off guard, coming from his friend who usually joked more than anyone else now that his twin brothers were gone. "May our bonds be truer than theirs."

"They always will be." The fact that Neville, Ginny, Luna, and Hermione all said the same thing at the same time told Harry right away that this was something they had discussed before.

"Right," he said firmly, closing his eyes to hold his emotions at bay. What he had learned that night... the dedication of his friends to his cause... taking that cause as their own... he never would have dreamed for it before. "We still need a name for our group overall."

"Uh, we might have trouble..." Hermione whispered suddenly. "The doors just opened again..." No one asked her how she knew - it was enough that she heard them, given that she had heard Ron and Neville earlier.

In an instant, both Ron and Ginny had transformed into their bird counterparts, and Neville had changed to his bear dog form and was already bounding towards the lake to lie along the shore. Hermione pulled out the cloak at the same time that Luna turned into herself again, and the three who were left threw the invisibility cloak over themselves.

Gem, can you find out who it is and what's going on? Harry chirped as softly as he could to her. She was small enough as Gem to easily eavesdrop without worrying about being caught for being out of place - a nightingale was perfectly natural along the edge of the forest, after all.

I'm on it, she promised as she flew towards the castle, disappearing into the night almost at once.

"Now, we just sit here and wait," Harry whispered, easing all three of them into sitting positions on the ground.

* * *

"Ug," Ginny groaned as she leaned into the door for the Room of Requirement almost four hours later, closing it quietly behind her. "I swear, that git lives to prowl the halls..." 

Harry was the only one who was still awake in the room, to her surprise. Hermione was leaning against him in the chair - the Room had provided a small study area this time - and Ron and Luna were both asleep on the couch. Neville was lying in front of the fireplace, as though he had been leaning back while talking before sleep had taken him.

"That git being Snape, right?" Harry asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah." She walked over to the last empty chair and sunk into it slowly. Flying around as a bird for several hours was certainly more tiring than she had anticipated earlier. "He was the one who came out when Willow heard someone. How'd she hear that, anyway?"

"She's a kneazle animagus," Harry explained easily. "So she has their sense of hearing, as well as the ability to discern truth and lies. And I can talk any language - even those of animals - without even thinking about it."

"Magical animagi inherit more abilities, don't they?" she asked with a grin. "I think all that changed for me is that my singing voice might have improved, but I'll find out tomorrow morning if I end up taking a shower. I won't subject you with it just yet."

"Thanks."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry nudged Hermione to wake her at the same time as he poked Neville with his foot. Ginny woke Ron and Luna easily enough, though they all stayed as quiet as possible, not wanting to attract attention just in case a teacher happened to walk passed the door outside.

"So, what was going on?"

"Nothing good, I'm afraid," Ginny admitted. "Though they didn't notice me at all - one of the reasons I wanted a small form, actually. It worked quite well, but I did have to sing once to make them believe I was a real nightingale."

"They?" Ron picked up. "So Snape wasn't alone, then?"

"He came down from the castle alone, but he met someone - I think his name was Antonin, but Snape only said it once, so I might have gotten that wrong," she said slowly.

Hermione shivered subconsciously and nuzzled a little closer to Harry. "No, I'm sure you didn't get it wrong. Antonin Dolohov, one of Voldemort's Death Eaters."

"Hey, isn't he the one who..." Ron's question was cut off when Luna's fingers were suddenly in his mouth, and he had to pull back to keep from choking. "What's the big idea?" he asked in surprise, looking to her.

"I don't believe your question needed asking, Talon, as it was only going to upset Willow," Luna said with a smile. "And I thought that would be most effective in stopping you."

"You could have just put your hand _over_ my mouth," he mumbled, but everyone else ignored him.

"Well, they were talking about some sort of operation, though it sounded like Snape was trying to get more information out of Dolohov than anything else," Ginny explained, using the Death Eater's last name as they usually did. "Almost as though he doesn't have all the facts about it himself."

"He probably doesn't," Neville pointed out before Harry or Hermione could say anything. "Voldemort wouldn't tell him everything, given how he's right under Dumbledore's nose, would he?"

"So you're saying that Snape was trying to get the information so he could warn the Order about it?"

"Or at least try to stop some of it, yeah."

"That's what it sounded like to me, too," Ginny continued. "Anyway, the only real points that I got were that the plans were already set in motion, and that nothing could stop them with Dumbledore away at the Ministry with his Wizengamot duties. Snape then asked about Talisien - though he just called him the elf. Asked what should be done about him."

"They're trying to overthrow the school?"

"That's what I thought too, but Dolohov's next words countered that. He said to ensure that the elf stayed in the castle during the trip, so he would be unable to intervene," Ginny countered. "Snape then asked if this was to take place during the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"It is, isn't it?" Hermione asked quickly. "According to the Prophet, the Wizengamot's meeting in two weeks' time - the same time as our next Hogsmeade trip. Our Valentine's Day Hogsmeade trip, meaning almost every student who can go will be heading down."

"Dolohov wouldn't answer," Ginny said with a sigh, brushing her long red hair out of her face as she leaned back in her chair. "I thought of Hogsmeade too, but why would they want Talisien kept away from there?"

"Well, he was a Ranger," Harry pointed out. At the confused looks, he looked to Hermione. "Shall you explain, or shall I?"

"Go ahead," she suggested. "I want to hear how Talisien explained it to you."

He nodded and looked back to the others. "A Ranger is basically an elven Auror, though more highly trained. While an Auror's training lasts three years, a Ranger's lasts almost twenty. He didn't say it, but I have no doubt that he was the best the elves have seen in a very long time."

"That's a good enough reason to keep him away from whatever they're planning... but what if it has something to do with the Forbidden Forest?" Neville asked. "That's where Dolohov and Snape met, right? And he is an elf, so..."

"Yeah."

The group fell into silence then before Harry nudged Hermione into standing up so he could do likewise. "Here's my suggestion - we mention this in the next DA meeting, and all be prepared during the Hogsmeade trip. We'll have a couple of teams stay here rather than head down, so they can watch the forest, but the rest of us will be on guard in Hogsmeade."

"We'll have to mix the teams a little, though," Ron said thoughtfully, helping Luna to her feet and then standing himself. "Everyone would expect me to go with Harry and Hermione, and obviously Luna will be with me too."

"The four of us will be one team for the day, then," Luna said firmly before letting out a rather loud yawn. Rather than look abashed by such an action like anyone else would have, she just grinned and shrugged.

"I'll stay here with Lavender," Neville offered. "I'll keep the rest of my team here, actually, and take anyone else who's willing to stay. I doubt Cho will want to stay here, though, so the black team will be going down with you."

"Colin and I'll stay, but it might be a good idea for Terry and Julia to go from your team, Prince," Ginny pointed out. "They would be unlikely not to go down under normal circumstances. I'd like to get down to Hogsmeade, too, but with our homework, I doubt it would be possible anyway. I don't know how you guys managed to stay on top of things will that Umbridge cow around last year," she added, shaking her head in disgust.

"Simple. Umbridge is nothing compared to Willow's nagging," Ron said with a roguish grin, punching Harry lightly in the arm as he passed and opened the door to take Luna back to the Ravenclaw tower. He had just checked the Map before handing it back to Harry. "Oh, and remember, Miss. Prefect - no magic in the halls!" he added as she drew her wand to hex him for the insult, and then he took off, hand in hand with Luna, chuckling quietly.

"Prat," she muttered under her breath as the rest of them headed off to take advantage of what little time remained of the night to sleep.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	34. Valentine's Day in Hogsmeade

Chapter Thirty Four: Valentine's Day in Hogsmeade

The next two weeks passed faster than Harry would have liked. If he was honest with himself, he knew that he should have expected that, as he was dreading the Hogsmeade weekend for once. The entire DA was ready, and they had divided into the two groups - those staying in Hogwarts to watch the forest, and those heading down to Hogsmeade.

Classes themselves were blurring together at a rapid rate for him. Though he was able to stay on top of his homework for the most part, he would have been the first to admit that it was only because of Hermione's help that he managed it. He hadn't held a single Quidditch practice in that time, however, and was wondering vaguely if it was something he should have done.

However, it didn't hold his thoughts for long before they drifted back to the first true test of the full DA. To be honest, he was beyond worried about it, and knew that there was something he should have done by now. Lying in bed with Hermione fast asleep curled up with him, sleep was normally an easy thing to come by... but the Friday night before the Hogsmeade trip was not cooperating.

_Dumbledore!_ Harry sat upright in bed rather suddenly, causing Hermione to flop down directly onto the bed instead of on him as she had been. She moaned a little, but curled up almost into a ball and pulled the blankets up, all while not waking up. He sighed in relief and looked about inside the curtains for... well, he didn't know quite what he was looking for exactly.

When his eyes rested on his glasses, he put them on and then eased himself out of bed to avoid disrupting Hermione any further. Pulling on the robes he had used that day, he grabbed both his belt and cloak and hurried to the door, putting them both on as he flew down the steps of the boys' dormitory.

_I've got to tell Dumbledore what's going on! That's all I wanted last year when Sirius was in trouble last year, but he wasn't around. Now that he's here, I almost completely forget to talk to him!_ His hood up, he pushed open the portrait and darted into the corridor and out of sight of the Fat Lady before she even had a chance to wake up and figure out what was going on. _I guess we're all on edge about it... 'Mione didn't think of it either, and she's usually the first to suggest talking to him!_

He was never more thankful for Kailyn's lessons than just then, when he slipped out into a classroom noiselessly, just evading Filch's lantern light. In his haste to meet with the Headmaster - despite the lateness of the hour - he hadn't even thought of grabbing his invisibility cloak.

"Canary Creams," he whispered to the gargoyle statue. "Ton-Tongue Toffee... Ice Mice - no, he'd have changed it by now - Foolum Sleepers..." He stopped guessing when the gargoyle sprang to life and started to turn to the side. Before he could just jump in and climb the steps, he noticed that there was someone already standing there.

"Good evening, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "I would say that this is a surprise, but in fact, I've been expecting you for quite some time. Shall we?" he asked, motioning Harry inside and up the steps ahead of him.

"Thanks, sir," Harry said with a nod, even though the bottom was dropping out of his stomach. Someone else had probably already spoken to him, and the Headmaster was probably upset that Harry hadn't come to him sooner. He felt especially bad about the whole affair, given how he had yelled at him before for keeping the truth from him...

"Have a seat, Harry," Dumbledore motioned once they were inside. Noticing his glance to the sleeping phoenix, he smiled to Harry. "I would welcome you to wake Fawkes so you might say hello, but I suspect he would not appreciate the gesture as it is intended."

"Right," Harry said a little uncomfortably, sitting down and looked across the desk. "Er... you said you were expecting me... what about?" He figured it best to start from scratch, and that was the best spot he could come up with quickly.

"I do not know," came the reply as Dumbledore looked over his half moon spectacles at Harry. "I simply saw you leaving your dormitory, and given that you are, in fact, the only student out of bed at the current time, I assumed there was a purpose involved. Given how you ended up in front of my office, I believe that guess was correct." He then leaned back and picked up a tin sitting on his desk. "Care for a confectionary of some kind? I have a few to chose from..."

Harry couldn't keep the grin off his face at the offer, but he shook his head anyway. He doubted any other Headmaster anywhere else would be taking the night time excursion in nearly as much stride. "Well, sir, I wanted to ask your opinion on something, and give a warning, as well."

"This has to do with the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow?"

Harry had forgotten how difficult it could be on occasion to talk with the Headmaster, given his apparent ability to know what was going on before you said a word. "That, or maybe the Forbidden Forest," he said after a moment of thought. "We're really not sure which, but those were the only things we could come up with."

"We, Harry?"

When Dumbledore spoke, Harry couldn't help but notice his gaze flicker to the badge upon his cloak before back to his face. "Uh... I mean Hermione and me, that's all. And I wanted your suggestion - we're planning to keep our eyes open tomorrow, and splitting up who stays here and who goes, you know? We heard this from a _forgotten_ source, though he is not aware that we did," Harry said carefully, not sure why they weren't speaking directly - there was no one else in the office, and Dumbledore approved of the DA. He figured that if they couldn't speak about the DA, he shouldn't mention Snape specifically, either.

"Indeed?" When Harry nodded, Dumbledore sat forward and pressed his fingers together. "I, too, heard from a forgotten source some interesting information regarding an unknown trip. If you are looking into it, I must warn you to exercise caution - few of our friends will be available to help, as many are busy protecting a special interest of mine."

Before Harry could say anything else, a soft buzzing interrupted the silence. After a moment, he realised - with a bit of a red face - that it was his two-way mirror that was emitting the sound, and he pulled it out. "Excuse me a moment, professor," Harry asked, looking down to the mirror to find Hermione looking back to him. "Hi."

"Where are you, Harry? I woke up and found you gone, and so I waited for a while, figuring you'd be in the loo, but..."

"I'm just updating an old friend about tomorrow," he said meaningfully. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, and then she nodded.

"Good idea!" she said hurriedly. "Look, I'll wait up for you, er... in the common room where we were before, okay?"

Harry did not miss the chuckle coming from across the desk when he nodded his agreement. "I won't be long, 'Mione. Don't worry."

When she broke the connection, Dumbledore spoke softly. "I apologise for the evasiveness, Harry, for I know how much you dislike such a thing. I simply wanted to test how you could respond in uncertain circumstances. You did very well, by the way."

"Uh, thanks, I guess, "he said with a shrug. "You understand why I came, then?"

"Yes, and rest assured that I, too, have known about it since Severus discovered the timing. He is staying in the castle as well." The Headmaster suddenly looked more serious than Harry could remember from recent times. "As you know, I leave first thing in the morning for a meeting with the Wizengamot. I meant what I said about lack of manpower, Harry. If you see anything happening in Hogsmeade, I would like you to activate your marvellous coin that Miss Granger prepared for you. One is in the employ of an ally, who will see to it that things are dealt with."

"The DA is split up, too," Harry admitted. "Half of us are going into Hogsmeade, while the rest are staying here. Since we weren't sure where whatever it is was going to happen, we thought that best."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said softly. "Incidentally, I am highly impressed with your actions recently, Harry. I believe congratulations are in order for perfecting your animagus form, am I correct?"

Harry grinned and nodded. "Hermione named me Tor," he added as an afterthought.

"And just what did she name Mr. and Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, and Mr. Longbottom?"

While the fact that Dumbledore did know about the others was startling, the fact that he didn't seem upset was certainly welcome. "She didn't name them, but their names are Talon, Gem, Heat, and Prince, in that order," he admitted. "They know to keep their ability quiet, sir, don't worry."

"The six of you have a special bond, Harry, that I would not think of trying to break. It is your friends that give you your strength, after all. And your choices that make you who you are."

"So you aren't upset at me for it, then?"

"If I was to be upset about it, you wouldn't be the appropriate target, would you?"

Knowing he couldn't possibly get away with a lie didn't stop him from trying. "Of course it was me. I spoke to them after the first DA meeting, and have worked with them since."

"I would remind you that I am aware of most of what goes on in this school, but I doubt it would do any good by this stage, if you haven't remembered it thus far. However, I believe both you and Miss Granger would make excellent teachers, if that was where your hearts lay in the end."

The fact that Dumbledore stood up and motioned to the door told Harry that it was time to leave, a fact that he was only too happy to follow. With a quick nod, he opened the door before closing it again behind him, catching a glimpse of the Headmaster standing to walk into a side passage that he hadn't noticed before.

Once returning to the bed he and Hermione had taken to sharing freely, he reassured her that all he was doing was warning Dumbledore, but nothing else was wrong. He just hadn't wanted to wake her, that was all. It took them almost an hour to settle down again in bed to sleep, only this time, sleep claimed them both rather easily - it was almost four in the morning, after all.

As Harry woke up on Valentine's Day, thoughts of a romantic day were relatively far from his mind - the mission was more important. Both he and Hermione had spoken about it days earlier, and had decided to hold off on anything special until after the Hogsmeade trip. They knew they couldn't afford to be distracted.

Morning already- He blinked in surprise at hearing Hermione's plaintive meow and looked down to find her eyes upon him as she smiled softly at him. -You seemed lost in thought, sorry.-

I'm just worried about today, that's all. Dumbledore doesn't seem too worried, though he did tell me to keep a hold on my DA leader coin.-

She nodded and sat up slowly, stretching to relieve tension from the night, to try and force herself awake faster. Harry grinned and ran a finger along her bare stomach - her blue camisole had ridden up - and she let out a giggle as she doubled in on herself.

Harry- she hissed, looking back to him. Rather than reprimand him further, however, she leaned closer and gave him a gentle kiss.

The curtains surrounding their bed suddenly gave a shudder, and they both looked to them in surprise. Hermione pulled the blanket a bit closer to her, wrapping herself up in them, before she nodded to Harry.

He pulled an edge of the curtain aside, letting the morning light flood in on them in an instant. He squinted in the light, and then noticed Ron's silhouette standing next to the bed. "Hey mate. Problem?"

"Uh, yeah!" Ron said in surprise. "We leave for Hogsmeade in an hour, and you said you wanted to talk to the teams before heading out, remember?"

"What?" Hermione asked, sitting forward so she could see him too. She ignored the fact that his face suddenly turned bright red at seeing her there. "An hour?"

"You both missed breakfast. Lavender said that she couldn't seem to wake Hermione either, but assumed she'd be up shortly - I guess Fred and George's invention works well, right Hermione?" Ron asked. "Never mind," he corrected. "Look, you've got to get moving if you don't want to get caught. I'll leave now, so there's no one else here, got it? I'll be up again in ten minutes, so make sure you're both ready! After that, I make no promises to not letting something slip to anyone I see in the common room that Hermione's been using a Foolum Sleeper tablet on her bed."

Once the door shut, Harry flopped back down on the pillow, shaking his head as he looked to Hermione. "Guess we sort of slept in, didn't we?"

"You guess... Of course we did!" Hermione said quickly. "We were up a bit later than anticipated, while you did something that makes perfect sense, by the way."

They were both ready a minute before Ron came back inside, and Harry had just tossed Hermione her green cloak and was doing up his belt around his waist. Once that was secure, he checked his wands and dagger before throwing his own cloak over his shoulders easily and following Ron back downstairs. Although checking was rather routine for him by this stage, he took extra caution this time, knowing that the day could bring some difficulties.

"Everyone's waiting in the first floor Transfiguration classroom, next to the Great Hall," Ron explained softly. "At least, all those not in Gryffindor." It quickly became apparent just how many of the DA were from Gryffindor as they all walked down the halls together, strangely silent the full way. Their team badges were all pinned on their cloaks and robes, and their solidarity was a sight indeed.

Entering the classroom, Harry finally released the hold he had on Hermione's hand, and she squeezed back gently before letting go herself and walking over to Ron and Luna. It took almost no time at all for everyone to stop moving and to look to Harry for direction. They all knew that there was a strong possibility of trouble in the next few hours, and needed his guidance.

That fact was a little hard for him to swallow, but he forced himself beyond that so he could speak. "Dumbledore is aware of what's going on," he said in a soft voice, well aware that that was all that was needed for him to be heard suddenly. "He commends us for our efforts, as well, but he does suggest we remain cautious."

"What's he doing about it, then?"

"He won't be doing much, given that he's probably left already for the Wizengamot meeting," Harry explained easily. "However, there will be several people watching the Forbidden Forest from the castle. That said," he added quickly, holding up a hand. "I think it best if we stick with our original plans on splitting up, with half staying here and the rest going to Hogsmeade."

"So Group Woods has a bunch of professors to watch out for them, who is watching out for Group Town?" Colin asked. The different group names weren't exactly original, but they did portray what was needed. "It doesn't make much sense for you guys not to have someone, right?"

"I don't know who it is," Harry admitted. "But if you feel the coins go off this afternoon, you'll know something's going on. So will our aide... whoever it ends up being. Apparently, Dumbledore managed to get a hold of one of our coins." He paused for a minute to look around at the two distinct groups. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah, one," Dean admitted. "Was there a reason both you and Hermione were late this morning?"

"It's time to disperse," Harry countered easily, rather than replying to the question that had received a few laughs from the group. "We can't all stick together all the time... but around four in the afternoon, I want both teams to meet up fully again. Once we come back from Hogsmeade, if nothing's happened - or even if something has - I want us all to gather again, understand?"

A resounding yes was his answer, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud of the group of witches and wizards who were standing up for what they believed in. He was also a little worried about it... but he figured he had a good reason to be, too.

"Stay safe, everyone."

The teams that they had developed in the DA practices were mostly thrown out for this plan, much to the chagrin of Ron and Harry both. Despite that, everyone did keep their badges pinned to their clothes, just in case.

Those going to Hogsmeade from the teams were arranged into couples, though. Aside from Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Luna, Dean and Cho were going together - much to the surprise of everyone save Harry, as Dean had asked him earlier if he minded (he only wished Dean the best of luck). Aside from the six of them, Terry and Julia were also going, and they would be travelling with Dean and Cho for the most part, making two teams of four.

Everyone else was staying in the castle, and had elected Neville as the leader, without so many words. Harry, for his part, couldn't have been happier for his dorm mate and friend.

By now, Filtch's muttering under his breath as they passed him to go to the carriages down to the village were barely worth noting at all. Harry couldn't help but be a little worried about what the day would bring, but Hermione seemed to realise this without him having to say anything, and gave his hand a little squeeze of support, to which he smiled thankfully.

The eight students all stopped just outside the carriages and looked to one another, unsure of what was to happen now. Finally, Harry took Hermione's hand and nodded to Dean, Cho, Terry, and Julia. "Keep a look out."

"You too," Terry offered in return. With those simple words, the two groups split ways, with Terry leading his group down the long streets of Hogsmeade, leaving the four others still standing where they had been dropped off.

After another moment's silence, Luna suddenly squawked loudly, and then laughed out loud at the very concept of what she had just done. Now that they were watching her, they saw her pop another animal mimic candy into her mouth, at which point she reared back and roared like a lion.

"Well, that reminds me," Ron said, putting an arm around Luna and starting to guide all of them into one of the shops that was about in the middle of town. "I need to pick up a couple of things from Zonko's... might be going out of business soon, after all, so I should get what I can now!"

"Are your brothers really doing that well with their foolish inventions?" Hermione asked in surprise as she sidestepped out of the way of a couple of over anxious third year students.

"Seems to me," Ron said after declining to pick up a couple of 'Misspelling Quills,' which made the users misspell every fifth word they wrote. "That you are hardly in a position to be calling their inventions foolish, Miss I-use-one-every-night-so-I-can..."

"Enough, Talon," Harry hushed him quickly, eyeing the group of fifth year Ravenclaws that seemed to be listening in on their conversation suddenly with great interest. "Yeah, I'll take a few fake talons," he covered after catching Ron's eye. "Great for costumes, aren't they?"

"Blood replenishing potions work wonders with them, too," Ron agreed, making his way to the counter, leaving Luna looking through rows and rows of odd coloured sweets, laughing at a few of the names.

A few minutes later found the four of them back on the streets, walking down away from the castle slowly. Harry had one hand in Hermione's still, with the other hidden beneath his cloak, inside his pocket. He was fingering the galleon in his cloak pocket, trying to wonder just when he'd have to call it into action.

"This is probably the first time the four of us have gotten together for anything like this, isn't it?" Hermione pointed out as she started steering them across the street towards Scrivenshaft's, deftly ignoring Ron's protests of visiting the place.

"Well, you and Luna didn't always get along, if I recall correctly," Harry countered with a grin. "Seems to me you said she was a bit loony, didn't you?"

"I still say that," Hermione replied with a grin to Luna. "But now I mean it in the best possible way."

"Thank you," Luna said sincerely as she pulled her wand out from the holster at her side to tuck it behind her ear again, where she was used to keeping it. "And stop complaining, Ronald, I need a few new nubs for my quills, I've run a few down to nothing recently with notes to you."

No matter how many times he saw it, Harry still found it amused watching his best mate's face turn the exact same shade as his hair.

"Is it just me, or are there an awful lot of students here today?" Harry whispered from the entrance to the Three Broomsticks about an hour later, after finishing in Scrivenshaft's and taking their time going back up the road. Looking around the packed room, it was clear that there was no argument to be had - there was barely any standing room, let alone anywhere to sit nursing a warm butterbeer. "Let's come back a little later, shall we?" he suggested, waving discretely to Terry and Julia, who he saw had managed to obtain a table near the back.

"Anyone have anywhere else they really need to go?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, it is Valentine's Day, so we should visit Madame Puddifoot's, right?" Luna asked dreamily as she started to pull Ron down the street almost in a rush. He pulled away frantically and started waving his hands, which was still a better reaction than Harry had - he had frozen stiff on the spot, leaving Hermione giggling at him as she poked him in the side and failed to get any reaction at all.

"Please tell me you're joking!" Ron begged, clasping his hands together. It looked like he was completely willing to go down on both knees to continue to beg, but Luna just laughed.

"I wouldn't dream of stepping in there today," she said, a little more serious than usual suddenly. "I was just teasing Harry. Besides, the jiltron tend to gather in swarms around the pink confetti and shiny heart shaped flakes."

Harry met Hermione's eye then, and it was obvious that they were both trying desperately not to burst out into laughter.

"Well, I, for one, have to go to Honeydukes - I'm actually surprised Ron didn't suggest it first," Harry said, nudging his friend with a shoulder. "You love going there first most of the time, right, given how it's closer to the castle than Zonko's?"

"Yeah, but..."

"No worries then," Harry cut his objection off. "I've got a promise to keep, after all."

"After the sweets, I'd like to go to Gladrags Wizardwear," Luna said softly. "I need a new set of dress robes for next year, mine are getting a little tight."

"No complaints from me," Ron whispered into her ear, making her giggle. While both Harry and Hermione had heard her laugh quite a few times before, hearing her giggle was an entirely new experience that neither could quite say if they enjoyed or not.

"You never did tell us what you were getting for Ron, Harry," Hermione said softly as he held the door to the sweet shop open for the others. "Remember? Ginny and I couldn't make it out..."

"And I don't intend on telling you now, either," Harry said with a wink to her. "I think you'll be able to figure it out if you think about our friend for just a minute alone," he added as he left her to go to the counter himself. She watched him talking in low tones with the kindly witch who was working that day, and saw her surprise at his request.

"Oi, Hermione, you still with us?" Ron's voice brought her attention away from Harry very suddenly, and she turned to both he and Luna. "Good, thought I'd make sure. Don't look now, but there's a snake coming up behind us."

Although she didn't want to admit it, beneath her cloak, she had a hand on both her dagger and her wand, ready to draw both in an instant if either was needed.

"Well, Potter, I see you've finally learned a little sense," Malfoy's sneering voice said from behind her, causing her to tense. "You've ditched the Mudblood, but now you've just got to get rid of this filthy Weasel..."

She drew her wand in an instant and whirled on the Slytherin before he could finish what he was saying. She knew in her heart that he'd be going after Luna next before making fun of Harry directly, but that didn't matter right then.

The feeling on the green cloak whirling around as she spun was exhilarating, but not nearly as much fun as seeing the shocked look on Malfoy's face to find her wand pointing directly at his face, and to find that he hadn't been talking to Harry at all, but had simply assumed he was due to the green cloak everyone was used to seeing Harry wear these days.

"You know, Malfoy, I was starting to think you were actually learning something this year," Hermione said in a tired voice, but she kept her wand pointing squarely between his eyes. "What, with Talisien around punishing you for every insult, and Harry blasting you off your feet each time he hears you... I guess you're slower than I thought."

"Mark my words, mudblood... you're the next one on the list," Malfoy said, surprisingly calm despite the apparent danger facing him. "My father will make sure you pay dearly for your interference. And don't worry... you won't be alone for long in death - Potty Potter will be joining you soon enough."

The two stood squarely against each other before Hermione sensed Harry's presence beside her again. She was vaguely aware of Ron saying something, but the blood rushing past her ears made it difficult to hear exactly what.

When Harry suddenly pulled Malfoy aside and draped an arm over his shoulder, she could barely believe her eyes - apparently neither could Malfoy, given how stiff he had gotten suddenly. "I will say this only once, Malfoy, so please pay close attention," Harry said softly, an impossibly hard edge to his otherwise calm voice and demeanour. "I have a rather long blade hidden beneath this cloak that I would love to test on a certain part of your anatomy - provided I had a chance of finding it, that is. If you don't leave my friends and I alone - now- then I may have to test my skills to see just how effectively I can 'cut you down to the size of an ant,' provided you aren't already that size, if you get my drift... Clear?"

Paler than usual, Malfoy appeared to have heard Harry perfectly clearly, and when Harry pulled away and walked back to his friends, exposing a turned back to his enemy, the prefect of Slytherin was in too much shock to actually take advantage of it.

Once outside, Ron held out a hand to stop Harry, clapping him on the shoulder. "Mate, that was, by far, the single most greatest thing I've ever seen you do."

"Better than taking on a dragon two years ago?"

"Yeah."

"Better than being the youngest seeker on a House team for over a century?"

"Yup."

Harry shrugged and turned to both Hermione and Luna. "If I knew that was all it took to impress him, I wouldn't have risked my life all these times..." That was as far as he made it before he cracked into laughter, the two girls joining him almost instantly. Ron, for his part, looked a little embarrassed - meaning he was beat red again - but he laughed along with them.

"Just one more stop that we have to make then," Ron managed once they were all under control again. "Then I say we head to the Three Broomsticks again. I'm starving!"

"If we're going to go back up that way anyway, I'd rather see the place where Harry learned the truth about his godfather first," Luna said softly, looking to Harry rather than Ron this time. "If that's alright with you..."

"Of course," he replied in equally soft tones before putting an arm around Hermione and giving her a quick kiss. "Let's go look at some clothes, then. I think I need a pair of wizarding boots or something - my trainers are starting to wear a little thin after all Kailyn's shoved us through. If you want a pair too, then it's on me, got it?"

"Thanks," Hermione whispered back, returning the kiss before breaking away to simply hold his hand again. With a grin, the two started walking towards the only clothing store in Hogsmeade, Ron and Luna trailing only slightly behind, lost in their own conversation.

Although Harry was fully intending on holding the door open for the four of them, his chance was taken from him as he found the door already being held open for them by the one person they had understood wasn't going to be in Hogsmeade.

"Afternoon all," Talisien said cheerfully, nodding to each of the four in turn as he stepped out, holding the wooden door open behind him. "Just needed to drop off a shipment of gloves from the forest - Tirduain knows I was planning on being here, so rather than send the parcel our usual way - " The four students looked to each other quickly as though trying to guess just what that meant. " - He asked me to deliver them in person."

"Right. Enjoying Hogsmeade, sir?" Harry asked with a grin. His nerves had been on edge ever since he and Hermione had left the dorm room (and if he was honest, a bit before that, too...), but seeing the Wanderer was doing wonders to help him relax. If Talisien was in town, then that meant they were safe.

"It's no Corinthian marketplace, but it's not bad," he said with a shrug. The elf then leaned in a little closer. "Verisi eqoeol carten, Ave wi Tebarewe. Lewer wey yir faqiya - sor ale wey don palotanir arote jiog." He then straightened again. "I'm heading down towards the little tea shop at the edge of town to have a look about there."

Although the words Talisien had spoken had confused Harry - despite the fact he knew what they meant - he had a sudden question that he couldn't resist asking. "You don't happen to have a spare galleon, do you?" Harry asked as the thought suddenly came to him.

"Can't say that I do," Talisien replied. "I need the only one I have left - something important to deal with later, is all." He gave no more time to reply before he had flitted out of sight and the door shut with a soft squeak, with the four students inside the shop.

"What was all that about?" Ron asked quietly, though it was obvious he wasn't the only one curious. Luna was the only one who didn't seem overly concerned, but the fact that she was still with them and not looking for some odd creature that they doubted existed (or at least, would have doubted before that year) said that she wanted to know as well.

"We're here to get a few things, remember?" Harry asked pointedly, motioning with his eyes to the group of students already inside. Most of them appeared to be girls in either third or fourth year, though there was a few older students of both male and female variety as well.

"Right," Luna said dreamily. "Ronald, would you mind giving me a hand? I want something red and bronze, with a hint of blue and gold..."

"But you're not sure?" Ron asked with a grin as he followed her, but not before he glanced to Harry with a meaningful 'you'll-tell-me-later' looks.

Harry nodded and Hermione pulled him towards the counter, were the elder wizard was sitting unpacking a small wooden box of dozens of pairs of gloves. "He said to stay on our guard," Harry whispered as he knelt down before the counter to pick up one of the dropped pairs of gloves. "And that he knows something is coming - which is why he was sent down. Beyond that..."

"What?" Hermione asked when he trailed off.

"These gloves are quite nice," Harry said, meaningfully looking to Hermione. She glanced down to see that they appeared to be made out of simple leather - though made with the utmost precision nonetheless. The index finger and thumb were actually cut off, however, to allow the most feeling from the two most sensitive parts of the hand. What she noticed most thanks to the way Harry was holding them, however, were the small runes lining the inside of the wrist.

"How much are these gloves, anyway?" Hermione asked as she turned towards the wizard. The elderly man seemed not to have heard her for a moment before setting down the few still in the box and looking down towards her.

"Those gloves, my dear?" he asked softly. "Those gloves are not for sale to just anyone. They are very rare, and very hard for me to come by. I'm sorry, but..." he trailed off suddenly as he looked up to just who was holding them. "My word..."

Harry sighed inwardly as the shopkeeper's eyes flicked to his forehead and the telltale lightning bolt scar. Resigning to the scene that was sure to follow, Harry lifted his bangs to show him the scar fully.

"Harry Potter," he breathed. "My word..."

"So, how much are these gloves?" Harry asked when Hermione poked him discretely - though he guessed by the apparent age of the wizard before them that she could have hit him right in the face and he wouldn't have really noticed much.

"For you, Mr. Potter... yes, I could sell a couple of pairs to you. No more than that, though... I'm terribly sorry, but like I was telling your lady friend, they are..."

"Hermione," Harry corrected him. When the wizard seemed confused, Harry motioned to the brown haired witch beside him. "Her name is Hermione Granger."

"Ah... right. I would be willing to sell you both a single pair, though I'm afraid it will set you back a little," he explained. "Perhaps I can interest you in a different pair?"

For his part, however, Harry happened to like the feel of the gloves in his hands. "No, we'll take a couple of pairs," he said easily. "Also, could you add her robes to my bill?" he asked, pointing out the blonde Ravenclaw witch who was walking towards the changing rooms with Ron right behind her. "She's a friend of mine." He then looked to Hermione. "I've been wondering just how I'm going to get rid of some of the gold Sirius left me," he explained with a sad, worn smile. "Looks like clothes is one place, right? Anything you need? I offered you boots earlier, didn't I?"

"Oh, Harry, I couldn't... honestly... I mean, I could use a pair, but... no..."

"'Mione?" Harry said softly. When she looked up into his eyes again, he smiled softly to her, his smile filled with a touch more warmth this time. "Please?"

She sighed and nodded. "Alright, we'll see what we can find then," she conceded. "You know Ron's going to flip at this, right?"

"He won't make a scene inside," Harry said with a grin. "We might call him Talon, but his claws aren't that sharp."

It took almost an hour before Luna had picked out a set of robes that she really liked. Harry was of the opinion that she had made up her mind within a minute or two, but enjoyed showing Ron what she looked like in various other outfits. This opinion was only strengthened when Hermione whispered to him that the robes she ended up with were the first ones she had picked out in the first place.

All told, Harry left his old trainers behind, given that he didn't think he could really get them back on his feet after wrenching them off this last time. He ended up with a pair of black dragonhide boots that came halfway up his shins. He had been a little concerned that such a thing would detract from his ability to move quickly, but had been surprised to find his movement was actually a touch better in the end, rather than worse.

Hermione had picked out a pair of dragonhide boots as well, though they looked more like trainers than boots, really. Rather than being pure black like Harry's, they were a rich brown that Harry secretly thought matched her eyes almost perfectly (almost, as nothing inanimate could ever truely be compared to something so expressive).

One thing he did not do, however, was tell anyone the total tally of their purchases - although he did promise to himself that he would find out just how much a new, state-of-the-art broom would cost, and see which of the two bills would come to a higher amount...

"So, what's the deal with the gloves, anyway?" Ron asked as they started back towards the head of town to the Shrieking Shack. "And just what did Talisien say to you, mate?"

Hermione was the one who spoke up first as she pulled on her pair of gloves. Harry had put his on in the store as soon as he had paid for them - he ended up needing to sign a form allowing for the withdrawal from his account in the end. He didn't know how it worked exactly, but was sure that if he asked Hermione, she could explain it to him at some stage.

"The gloves have runes etched in around the wrist, and are from the elves," she explained. "The runes actually allow for a better grip - while wearing these, you can't drop something by mistake, or fumble or anything like that, either."

"Wicked," Ron said with a grin to Harry. "So, those are replacing your Seeker gloves, then?"

"They most certainly are not, Ron!" Hermione answered before Harry had a chance to speak. "That would be a most unfair advantage - I know it's not in the rules, but that would be so close to cheating you might as well be Slytherin!"

"Actually, I was going to ask Madame Hooch for her opinion of them first," Harry admitted with an apologetic glance to Hermione. "But the real reason I bought two pairs - one for me and 'Mione - is our daggers. These'll let us use them a lot better, without being worried about fumbling around with them."

"Mate, if what we saw the other day is any indication, then you've got nothing to worry about anyway," Ron said with a grin.

"But it sounds like they will help," Luna added. "Thank you for the robes, Harry, though I did bring money from home to cover them anyway."

"I figured you did, but I wanted to," Harry said with a shrug before stopping and turning completely towards Ron. "Look, Talisien said to keep our eyes open, alright," he explained. "So we've got to stay on guard."

"Anything else?" Hermione asked, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. The fact that he instantly tensed told her the answer before he even had a chance of trying to deny it.

"He called me the Lightning Child," Harry whispered.

"He did?" Hermione asked in surprise, cutting off a response from both Ron and Luna this time, causing Ron to grin to Harry, though Harry did not return the look at all. He was obviously bothered by the name. "That's great, Harry!"

"Huh?"

His lack of an intelligent reply went completely unnoticed by her. "In nature, lightning is a changing force - very powerful, with the potential to be very dangerous, but beautiful and strong at the same time. To be called a Child of Lightning by an elf is a compliment - it means he views you as someone who can and will bring about a drastic change - in this case, for the better, of course."

No one said it, but it was clear they were all thinking it - the prophecy.

After a moment of silence, Ron grinned again, though this time at Luna. "I told you she was mental," he said spryly. "She's memorised the whole library by now, I'm sure. Who else could have known all that?"

"I did," Luna admitted, catching the others off guard completely. "Though he could have been calling him by the attribute, too - his scar. Sometimes elves name others by a recongisable feature about them."

"So what, Hermione would be Child of Books?"

"And Ron Child of Idiocy?" Hermione quipped back.

"Yeah, that's about the size of it," Luna admitted, which ended the conversation in a bout of laughter as they continued towards the Shrieking Shack down the deserted road.

The four stopped at the large wooden and wire fence before the house. To one side, the fence continued to prevent anyone from falling down the relatively steep cliff to the small valley below, but the other side opened into the forest. As Ron animatedly described to Luna exactly what they knew about the Shack itself, as well as the experiences they had had within its confines, Harry and Hermione both looked to the woods almost together before looking back up the street. Something felt decidedly off, but neither of them could say just why.

After another hour or so, during which time the feeling of unease slowly passed again, the group finally decided to give the Three Broomsticks another try - half of the students had probably returned to the castle by then anyway, as it was wearing on in the afternoon. As they turned, however, Luna's bag got caught on the fence, and before anyone could stop it, her robes spilled out and down the cliff face.

It was like watching them fall in slow motion, the way not one of them moved at all to try and catch them. By the time they finally settled at the bottom, the shock had worn off, and Harry and Ron had both pulled out their wands to try and summon them back. Before they could do so, though, Hermione grabbed both of their arms.

"Using a summoning charm on clothes doesn't work," she explained, looking a little upset at the fact. "Think about it - if it did, in order to disrobe anyone, all you'd have to do is _accio_ their clothes, right?"

I never thought of trying that before- Harry purred before he could stop himself. While Hermione looked shocked, Ron looked almost sick by comparison.

"Oi, mate, do me a favour and don't talk to her in kneazle when whatever you're saying is surely meant for only her ears - I don't care for any images of the two of you together, got it?"

Harry nodded and then looked down the cliff. It was obvious that it wasn't going to be easy to get down there, especially given the state of Ron's shoes. While in relatively good condition, they weren't meant for climbing by any means.

"I'll go get them," Harry volunteered after a minute. "With my gloves, I won't slip as easily, and I've got new boots, so I might as well break them in, right?"

He exchanged a quick glance with Hermione, who was biting her lower lip in thought again, and waited to see her nod slightly. With a grin, he then pulled off his cloak and swung it over the edge of the fence as he crawled beneath the old wooden planks.

"Be back in a minute," he promised, grasping the edge of the rock and starting to make his way down. Although he had never really done anything like mountain climbing before, he found that it was something that came relatively easily to him. His boots had excellent traction, and he always seemed to find the footholds that he needed. He didn't delude himself, though - he knew his gloves were helping a lot, too.

Once at the bottom, he pushed away rom the rock and landed on the much softer ground, in rather long grass. As he crouched down to cushion the impact, his left hand brushed against both his wands and his dagger hilt again. Although it was a completely accidental thing, it gave him a sense of ease that he hadn't felt for a while.

Spotting the lost robes, he scooped them up and spun them around to bunch them up into a long, single piece of clothing that he could tie about his middle. Once the knot was finished, he walked back to the cliff face, looking up to the others. He could see them talking to each other, while watching him at the same time.

Harry was about halfway up the cliff when he noticed that something felt off. Looking up, he was surprised to see his three friends were no longer leaning over the fence watching him. Straining his ears, he could have sworn he heard shouting - and not the shouting he was used to between Ron and Hermione, but a more base, horrifying screaming.

As his own fear wrapped itself around him in an instant, he gripped the rock firmly in one hand as he dug into his robe pockets for the leading gold galleon. His fear only doubled as he remembered - the galleon was in the pocket of his cloak, not his robes! And his cloak was sitting on the edge of the fence at least fourty feet above him!

"Accio cloak!" he cried, pointing upwards to it, even though he knew it was a pointless gesture. Hermione had just explained it to the group of them a short time ago, but he didn't care. He had to try it at least.

He never stopped to analyze how the dark green fabric was suddenly on his shoulders again, the clasp done up around his neck as normal. He had pulled the coin out right away and activated it five times in an instant - it was hot in his own hands, so he knew it was surely hot enough for anyone else to notice it, too!

Shoving it back into the pocket, he redoubled his efforts to climb when a scream tore through the air. It was not a scream he had ever wanted to hear, but it did tell him exactly what was going on.

At the current moment, at the top of the cliff, Hermione was under the Cruciatus Curse.

Cursing himself for his own stupidity, he leapt back from the cliff and transformed into his lyra form in an instant, flapping his massive transparent blue wings faster than he ever had before. The rock blurred in front of him as he shot up into the air, high above the village of Hogsmeade already.

With a feral growl, he shot down again, changing back into himself just before any of the eight Death Eaters who had surrounded his three friends had a chance to notice him. Ron and Luna were already stunned and bound, but Hermione seemed to be putting up a rather large fight still. Although currently still under the horrifically painful curse, she still had a hold of her wand.

The moment the curse was broken, Harry struck with a loud cry. "Stupefy!" he shouted. "Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Iredes!" The first two red jets of light struck the two closest Death Eaters to Hermione, but the next two attacks missed entirely as they all turned to deal with him, leaving Hermione on the ground in more pain than she had previously thought possible. The last attack was a blinding white light that Harry was sure he didn't recognise, but it hadn't done much good anyway.

"So, the baby Potty finally decides to join us, does he?" one of the Death Eaters asked in a baby voice. "There goes the thought that he actually developed some brains!"

"Bellatrix!" Harry shouted angrily, feeling power building just beneath the surface.

"Among others," a snide voice answered. Harry had heard that voice before, and neither time he had heard it, had it been pleasant. "Stay down, insolent wench!" the senior Malfoy said harshly, turning back to Hermione to curse her again.

"Do not touch her, Malfoy!"

Harry was starting to wonder where anyone else was - surely they were making enough of a scene by now to have been noticed, and he had activated the galleon, right? His element of surprise was gone, and he seriously doubted his chances against the six fully trained Death Eaters, who were now moving to circle around him, were very high at all.

"We're not after you today, Potter," Malfoy said calmly, keeping his wand trained on Hermione rather than on him. "Just a few of your friends. I must say, it was enjoyable listening to the mudblood scream, don't you think?"

"This is no time for games, Lucius," Bellatrix said fiercely. "Let's just stun him and finish here."

Harry barely had time to draw his wand up in front of him to summon a 'protego' shield before the blasts struck hard. The first three came from behind, making him immensely pleased that he had drawn the shield in an arch like Snape had suggested - it strengthened the shield from behind more than the front that way.

The next three came from directly in front of him, and Harry actually managed to duck beneath the first stunner before the next two struck his shield, making it shatter. Before he had time to respond, two voices from beyond the circle broken his concentration. "Expelliarmus!" To his amazement, the Death Eaters parted like the wind at the sound of the voice, and the white jets of light struck him fully in the chest, blowing him backwards.

Part of him expected to crash into those behind him, but they, too, had moved aside, leaving only the old fence to break his fall. Unfortunately, the fence didn't break the landing, but the landing did break the fence, sending him careening over the side of the cliff again. He felt his wand still in his hand, and was just about to transform to an lyra again when a stunner struck him fully, and he knew nothing else for quite some time.

* * *

Hermione groaned as she picked herself up. The two Death Eaters that had sent curses at Harry hadn't noticed her movement, and to her surprise, Malfoy had finally taken his wand away from her to deal with Harry. 

Her plans of attacking them from behind fell to the wayside when she saw Harry blasted over the edge of the cliff, and she screamed out in horror as someone sent a stunner after him to knock him out.

No one actually reacted as she ran to the edge of the cliff to look down, watching his limp body falling fast to the bottom. "Wingardium Leviosa," she muttered, pointing her wand at his body. He slowed instantly, and landed silently at the bottom of the cliff on the grass.

"You're coming with us now, mudblood," Malfoy said easily, levelling his wand at her. "You and the two pureblood traitors are needed. Course, you're coming just to destroy Potter - we could never have a better use someone as filthy as you!"

"Crucio!" Hermione cringed, but was surprised when she felt no pain wash over her. Opening her eyes again, she saw Bellatrix holding the curse on Malfoy. She broke it after he collapsed on the ground. "I told you, enough games!"

"Very well, Bella," he replied from the ground, pointing his wand at Hermione. "Stupefy."

"Protego!" she replied instantly, sending the curse harmlessly into the air above them. "Expelliarmus!"

Her own spell was shot back at her so quickly that she had no time to react, though it didn't have nearly as much power as it did before hand, and only managed to knock her to her knees, taking the wind out of her.

"Enough of that, mudblood," Malfoy said, lifting his wand towards her again. "One more time... Stupefy!"

Although she felt the stunner hit her fully, she didn't lose consciousness as she had expected. Instead, she was suddenly lifted up off the ground and thrown over the edge of the cliff much like Harry had been a few minutes earlier. She frantically tried to think of a way to slow down her own decent - as casting the levitating spell on one's self rarely worked properly - but lost her train of thought as she started to slow down suddenly.

She landed softly next to Harry, and turned to him quickly to see if she could revive him. He didn't look to be injured much at all, aside from a few bruises and scraps, but she had to make sure. She didn't want to risk enervating him if he was in too bad a shape.

Her sharp ears picked up new sounds coming from the top of the cliff now. "You aren't supposed to be here today!" Malfoy sounded quite scared, which brought a smile to Hermione's lips. "Severus assured us that you'd be stuck in the castle!"

"I would never sit back and allow this to happen," a determined voice replied. She recognised it as Talisien, and felt a sigh run its course through her. With him around, surely they were finally saved again - well, him or Dumbledore, but with the Headmaster away, the elf was just as good, if not better with his own experiences behind him.

An odd sound that she couldn't distinguish ripped the silence next, followed by a loud cry of horror or pain. "Take the two, and run!" This time, it was Bellatrix again, and she sounded to be hurt badly already. Two pops later made a sinking feeling wash over Hermione this time. She heard Talisien curse something in a language she couldn't understand - she assumed Ancient - followed by another shout of pain, and then silence again.

It took all of twenty seconds of listening, at which point she felt her own system being overcome by what had happened. She couldn't explain it later, even if she could remember everything, but a sense of peace gripped her suddenly, and she knew nothing else as she closed her eyes and laid down next to Harry.

* * *

All around him was a cloud of confusion. He barely knew who he was as he lay there with his eyes closed. After a few minutes, he noticed he was warm, though not unbearable so... it was a comforting warmth. A soothing warmth. 

A Hermione warmth.

With that thought, more thoughts and images rushed forward into his mind unbidden. He knew who he was again, but as his thoughts continued through the day that he had just spent in Hogsmeade with his friends, he found himself wishing that he didn't.

Harry cut off that train of thought as he felt Hermione shudder in her sleep, as though fighting off a bad dream. After being hit at least twice with the Cruciatus Curse, that fact wouldn't surprise him in the slightest.

Aside from holding Hermione a little closer, he didn't move at all. He was starting to catch bits of voices, saying something close by, but he couldn't make out just what it was. As much as he wanted to open his eyes, to sit up, to say anything, nothing seemed to respond except an urgent need to hold Hermione and not let go.

It was another three hours before he woke up properly.

When he finally opened his eyes, it was to a full room. It was also to a room that he knew far too well as it was - the Hospital Room in Hogwarts. He knew Hermione was lying next to him still, though this did come as a bit of a surprise, given how strict Madame Pomfrey usually was about such things.

No one said anything as he looked around the room to see who all was there. He had expected to find the school healer next to his headboard, and he wasn't disappointed to find her there - and as he had suspected, she didn't look pleased with the amount of people in the room. Beyond her stood Dumbledore, looking graver than Harry could remember seeing him in a long time. That was enough to turn Harry's blood cold. Something really bad had happened, and his fears of not seeing Ron and Luna were probably about to come true.

To his surprise, he found Snape standing next to Dumbledore, then Minerva and Talisien. Beyond them stood his godfather and Tonks. Sitting in a chair at the edge of the room was the tall and still impressive looking Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry never had questioned the wizarding views on white and black people, as no one had ever commented on it to him before, and so he didn't think of it upon seeing the strong Auror. He was quite pleased to see him, though. With Lupin, Tonks, and Shacklebolt around, he knew that the Order was involved already.

On second thought, that didn't please him one little bit.

The rest of the room was filled with members of the DA, all of whom looked rather withdrawn and anxious. Ginny's eyes were puffy and red, and she still had tear stains on her cheeks, which only managed to send Harry's stomach plummeting any further. Colin was standing resolutely next to her, but he seemed scared too.

That was the word he was looking for. Yes, everyone looked worried, but they also looked scared. Almost terrified. Harry wondered vaguely if they were scared of him, of his reaction, or of something else entirely.

"It is good to see that you are awake at last, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "Would you mind attempting to wake Hermione as well? I feel she will want in on this conversation now, rather than having you repeat it to her later in its entirety."

Harry nodded grimly and turned to Hermione. It was only then that he noticed that he was dressed in a hospital gown, and he only noticed that because Hermione was too. She looked so at peace sleeping next to him in the bed that they had jokingly suggested having his new engraved in the headboard several times in the past.

Despite being in front of a room full of people, he couldn't help but lean down and kiss her gently on the lips to wake her, rather than do anything else to manage the task. She responded after a moment, and he pulled away right away, letting her fog addled brain wake up quickly.

Hermione woke with a start when she actually opened her eyes, but didn't say anything as she, too, took in everyone who was around them. Once she had pulled herself into a sitting position, both looked back to Dumbledore again.

"Neither of you are experiencing any dizziness? Lightheadedness?" he asked kindly.

"No sir," Harry said after a brief glance to Hermione. "Not that it matters right now anyway," he added after another moment of silence. The tension in the room was so thick that he was surprised there weren't any cases of accidental magics being used, though he figured Dumbledore was probably ensuring that fact.

"Indeed," the Headmaster said softly, looking around to the others.

"Are they dead?" Harry whispered into the silence after another pregnant pause.

To everyone's surprise, it was Snape who answered his question. "They are still alive, Potter," he said in an almost detached voice of feigned indifference. "And should remain so for a while at least."

"Then where are they?" he asked quickly. "What's being done to help them?"

"Mr. Weasley and Miss. Lovegood..." McGonagall said slowly. "Were taken by You-Know-Who's followers. We do not know where they are now, but we do have people looking for them."

"You mean the Order is trying to find them?"

"There are people in this room as of yet unaware of such a group, Potter," Snape sneered. "You would do well to keep your mouth shut on such matters."

"I would trust my life with anyone in this room," Harry replied instantly.

"And so would I," Hermione backed him up.

"Your father trusted his life to a friend, too," Snape quipped back. "And we all know where _that_ got him!"

"Enough, Severus!" Talisien said quickly, making a cutting motion with his hand. "I do not know why you insisted on waiting in here with the rest of us if you are only going to goad both Harry and Hermione with your outdated grudge!"

"Here, here!" a few members of the DA said loudly, though when the Potions Master looked back to see who it was, he couldn't figure it out.

"I was merely stating a fact," Snape replied in an almost subdued voice for him. "And I am here because I am sure that both Potter and Granger would have sought me out later if I did not tell them right away that I have no idea where your friends are, but they are still alive nonetheless."

"That fact has now been stated," Talisien said easily, looking at him pointedly. "And I believe your presence here would now be more of a hindrance to the thought process of many in this room."

Snape didn't see fit to reply to the elf has he spun and stormed out of the Hospital Wing. "Thanks, Professor!" Harry called after him just before the door shut, shocking the others with the motion. At their glances, he shrugged. "He's right, we would have tried to find him to get the information from him later."

"How long were we out this time?" Hermione asked softly.

"This time?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Miss Granger was awake a few hours ago, Mr. Potter," Madame Pomfrey said stoically. "She told the Headmaster a few things then before falling asleep once again with the aide of a dreamless sleep draught."

"That's what that was?" Hermione asked. "You said it was chilled pumpkin juice!"

"It didn't work anyway," Harry pointed out. "She was still having a nightmare when I woke last time."

"You were awake earlier?"

"Does it really matter?" he countered, not sure where the question had come form in the first place. "Can anyone tell me... sorry, us what's going on?" he asked, fixing his question as Hermione grasped on of his hands beneath the sheets.

"There was an attack in Hogsmeade," Talisien said softly, and all eyes swirled to him instantly. Clearly, no one had expected him to answer the question, but had expected Dumbledore to field it as usual. "I was told that something big would happen, but I didn't know where or when. By the time I arrived, I fear that I was too late."

He sighed and pulled down his hood, letting Harry and Hermione get a good look into his eyes before he looked away. Although a few of the DA had been startled by the scars on his left cheek, no one actually said anything about them. They might have seen them before during the November Ball, but that did seem like ages ago, and several not in the advanced class had forgotten about them.

"A flaw in the coins you use, Harry, is that they are not good warning devices. While excellent for scheduling times, as they were meant for, they can only say something is happening when you warn in advance like you did two days ago," Talisien explained. "They can not tell anyone where you are, or how great a danger is lurking nearby."

"I knew that would be a problem!" Hermione said, obviously furious with herself suddenly. "I just knew I should have used a location spell in addition to the Protean Charm, but I didn't have time the first time, and I didn't even consider it this time... wait, two days?"

"The coins are something to worry about later, Hermione. And yes, two days," Dumbledore said softly, motioning for Talisien to continue his tale then.

"When I arrived, I found eight Death Eaters attacking Hermione. Ron and Luna were already tied up and stunned, and there was no sign at all of Harry, though I gathered quite quickly where he was thanks to Hermione's cries," Talisien said. "Before I could react, she was taken beyond their reach by her bracelet, and..."

"Her bracelet?" Dean interrupted.

"What about it?" Hermione asked, looking at the band of gold on her wrist as she pulled her hand out from under the covers. The bracelet meant a lot to her, more than most in the room would ever discover, but what did he mean?

"There are elven magics at work in that bracelet, Hermione," Kailyn offered. "Didn't Harry tell you when he gave it to you in the first place?"

"My dagger!" Harry cried loudly before the witch in bed next to him could reply. "Where's my dagger?"

"On your night stand with your wand belt," Madame Pomfrey said in an almost tired voice. "I would have rathered remove such things from near a patient, but the Headmaster can be quite insistent at times, refusing to listen to my recommendations as a Healer..."

"I'm glad he did this time," Harry said softly in return, glancing to Dumbledore in thanks. "I can't get too far away from it, after all."

"After Hermione was taken over the cliff, what happened then?" Terry asked when silence again fell. Harry looked to him quickly, and wasn't surprised to see a guilty look on his face. Looking to the others in the DA, he saw that the sixth year Ravenclaw wasn't the only one who wore such a look.

"Bellatrix LeStrange and Lucius Malfoy apparated away with Ron and Luna," Dumbledore answered this time.

"What about the other Death Eaters?" Cho asked.

"Dead," Talisien said resolutely. "Unless any of them can live without the lower half of their bodies."

Rather than an awkward silence, this remark was followed by a rather grim one that was finally broken by Lupin. "What happened to your friends, Harry, was not your fault," he said.

"No?" Harry asked, anger building in him in a second at the words he had heard after every tragedy that happened around him. "Not my fault? Weren't they taken because they were my friends? Wasn't that why they sent me over the cliff, and tried to take Hermione too?"

"According to what Malfoy told Hermione," Lupin explained easily, though his eyes were still shining with worry and pain. "They were simply after two underaged purebloods. Snape seems to agree with that theory, and that they wanted to take Hermione to get to you, but failed in that attempt. It would seem that Ron and Luna were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I don't buy that!" Harry said angrily. "I can't! Wrong place, wrong time? Ha! Anywhere with me seems to be the wrong place, doesn't it? Same with anytime!"

"No, Harry," Hermione said softly from beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder this time. Her touch instantly made him look to her, and he felt his anger fading almost instantly as he met her rich, warm earth eyes. He almost resented her ability to take his anger away, but he knew it was an important one anyway. He just hoped it wouldn't have a bad effect on her this time. "It's never the wrong place to be with you, nor the wrong time. Voldemort is trying to break you, break us with this. We can't let him win."

"We won't," Harry promised, his voice hard as steel. "He's not going to get away with this." He looked away from Hermione, and met the eyes of everyone in the room one by one. "I promise that."

"Harry, it is not the time to go galavanting across the countryside in search of your friends," Dumbledore suggested. "It is currently the time to let the Order do their work in trying to get any information on where Voldemort is hiding." He then turned to McGonagall. "Really, Minerva, you simply must get used to at least hearing the name."

"Dumbledore is right, Harry," Kingsley said from the corner of the room as he stood up. Harry was suddenly reminded that Hagrid wasn't in the room - probably because he wouldn't have fit with everyone else present - as the Auror was a rather tall, strong man himself. "We will find him. I managed to find Black after all, even though I found out the truth just after confronting him."

Oddly enough, it was the Auror's mention of Sirius that made Harry actually start to believe that the Order would be able to find Ron and Luna.

"What does Voldemort want with two underaged purebloods, Professor?" Hermione asked Dumbledore, shaking Harry from his thoughts.

"That, my dear Hermione, is a question with a good many possible answers. Unfortunately, each is as improbable as the last."

"There's only a few things he could need them for," Tonks said, her voice a bit more restricted than normal. She wasn't her usual cheerful self, but then she was obviously upset by what had happened as well. "And none of them are good things for them."

When Harry yawned despite himself, he knew at once that it was a bad idea, as it sent a spasm down his body, making him shiver quite suddenly. His hope that Madame Pomfrey had missed the action was worthless, though, as she threw up her arms. "That's it! Everyone out for the night! I'm keeping these two here so they can get a good night's sleep, and then they can return, and you can continue this conversation then!" she insisted, pointing to the door.

Although practically the entire DA objected - as well as Lupin, actually - Dumbledore simply nodded and walked to the door, opening it and motioning outside. As everyone filed out quietly, Ginny made her way over to the bed quickly.

"He'll be alright, won't he?" she whispered to them, tears in her eyes again. The sight was almost enough to tear Harry in two - Ginny had been so strong ever since her first year, and now she was almost a wreck...

"I'm sorry, Gin," he whispered back. "I'm so sorry I couldn't stop this from happening..."

"I'm sorry too," Hermione offered. "If only I was a little faster, or a little less concerned about Harry. I should have been paying closer attention, but..."

"No," Ginny whispered fiercely, throwing herself onto the bed to hug them both at once. "No, it's not either of your faults!" she said loudly this time. "If you hadn't gone after Harry, Hermione, you would have been taken too! It's not your fault!"

After she finally pulled away - or rather, was pulled away by Madame Pomfrey - both smiled at her. "Thanks, Gin," Harry said softly, and Hermione nodded the same.

And then, as suddenly as it always seemed, they were left alone in the Hospital Wing. The Healer had left two goblets of a pink liquid next to their bed, but neither of them took them. Instead, without any words being exchanged, Harry took Hermione into his arms, and the two cried. They cried for each other, they cried for the DA, they cried for the Order of the Phoenix, and they cried for Ron and Luna.

They cried because they had failed them, and because it was the only release that they had available to them. When Madame Pomfrey came in to check on them an hour or so later, she had to use a drying charm on the pillow beneath Harry to clear away the tears, as well as on his hospital gown from where Hermione's head was resting. Then, picking up the still full goblets, she muttered something about the inequities of war and the unfairness of those who suffer, and then retreated to her own room again just as silently as she had come in.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…  
**The Shadows**


	35. Do Memories Remain?

Chapter Thirty Five: Do Memories Remain? 

By the time two in the morning finally rolled around, Harry and Hermione were the only ones left in the Gryffindor common room. Dean had been the last to go up to bed about an hour ago, though Ginny had wanted to stay up anyway. It was only after needlessly extracting a promise from both those still on the couch to tell her everything did she agree to leave.

Wordlessly, as the clock above the fireplace chimed softly twice, the two pulled themselves up off the comfortable couch. It had been a very long two weeks since Ron and Luna's kidnapping, and both felt exhausted almost full time now. However, that was the last thing on their minds just then.

The Fat Lady didn't even see them as they darted down the corridor after slipping out. By the time she was fully awake, they were already down their third passageway. After navigating the castle for so long after curfew, Harry had no problem leading Hermione passed first Filch himself, then Mrs. Norris, and finally even Peeves - who was singing about dumping the caretaker's cat into a toilet and flushing.

If the time had been different, then Harry would have seriously considered offering to assist the meedling poltergeist.

"Voldemort," Hermione whispered as she reached the large stone gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. He had told them both the password earlier in the day when he told them the time, so neither were surprised when it sprung silently to life and spun aside to reveal the long twisting staircase behind it.

"That didn't feel quite right," Harry said softly as they climbed the stairs. "I don't know what it was, but something about sneaking through the castle felt off to me."

"Well, we do technically have permission this time," Hermione pointed out. "Even if that wouldn't have helped us if Filch caught us, as we couldn't tell him." Glancing over to him as she picked up the pot that held the floo powder, she saw the look in his eyes. It had nothing to do with permission, and everything to do with the third member of their trio that usually snuck out with them.

She put the pot down and held out her arms to him. After being enveloped in his embrace, she relaxed against him for a minute before their heard Fawkes chirp curiously from behind them. Turning, they both saw a baby bird sitting in his cage.

"Burning day must have been recently," Harry explained at Hermione's questioning glance. She nodded her understanding - she should have come up with that on her own and she knew it - before picking up the pot again.

"I'll go first," she whispered, turning to the flames. "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," she said firmly, throwing a handful of powder into the flames and stepping in as they turned a vibrant green.

Although Harry had no great desire to use the floo network, he knew he didn't have much choice in the matter this time. Dumbledore couldn't exactly have left an active portkey to Headquarters lying around, even if it was in his office.

Repeating Hermione's words, he stepped into the flames as well, tucking his elbows in as he started to spin around rapidly. When he fell out of the fireplace on the other side, he was very thankful that, for once, he didn't fall flat on his face. This was due only to the fact that Hermione caught him before he could, but that didn't really matter.

"Are you ready?" she asked him in a whisper. They could hear voices coming from downstairs (Harry hadn't noticed beforehand that they were actually in a small room on the second floor with a fireplace... he hadn't known there was even a fireplace _on_ the second floor...), and so they were keeping quiet before heading down.

"I think I should be asking you that," he whispered, putting on a hand on both her shoulders. "I mean, it was a bit worse for you, right?" She nodded and held him again. "Don't worry. They already know the basics of what happened... this is just to get all the facts. You know how important that is."

"I know," she said with a smile up to him. "And so long as you'll sit next to me, I'll be fine."

"Dumbledore himself couldn't make me sit anywhere else," he promised with a grin as they separated. Before either could say anything else, they heard a whoosh from the fireplace and they stepped aside to let Tonks step - to their surprise - gracefully from within.

"Wotcher, you two," she said with a grin as she dusted the soot off her Auror robes. "Ready for tonight?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Harry said with a nod, putting an arm around Hermione. "Has anyone found anything yet? Any idea where..."

"We'll find out downstairs," Tonks promised. "Dumbledore has summoned the entire Order tonight, so we'll have everyone around to give any insight we have."

"Everyone? I thought someone from the Order was staying at the castle, just in case..."

"Er, right," Tonks said, looking away from them. "Forgot about that. I think Hagrid and McGonagall are staying... but we'll find out downstairs."

Let's see what we can hear first,- Hermione purred softly to Harry, who nodded his agreement. She then looked to Tonks again, who appeared either not have noticed or not understood why Hermione had just purred. "We'd like to see if we can hear what's being said in there now, before they know we're here."

"Fine by me," she said with a broad smile. "You two work well together, by the way."

Both nodded their thanks and pulled open the door. This only proved Harry's theory - last time he had been in his home, this had been a bathroom, and before that, he could have sworn that it was simply a closet. He'd have to remember to ask Dumbledore about it at a later date. That night simply wasn't the time.

The three paused just outside the door at the sound of raised voices. In particular, a single raised voice that both Harry and Hermione knew easily, and weren't looking forward to hearing. "They're children, Albus!" Molly Weasley was shouting. "They shouldn't be brought into a war!"

Although they had heard her voice such things before, they hadn't expected to hear it that night as well. After all, her youngest son was directly involved, even if no one had wanted it to be so.

"She has a point," a voice neither Harry nor Hermione recognised said a little softer. "They don't need to know some of what we've been doing. You've told us how impetuous a few of your students can be - and Potter's on the top of that list! If he were to hear about what you've got us guarding this time..."

"Gilive Haron," Tonks whispered. "A newer recruit to the Order, he's an Auror whose been around a bit longer than I have. You saw him once, Hermione... just after everything that happened over the summer."

Hermione's mind pinpointed the Auror who had stepped out of the ruins of Harry's old house quickly enough. He had seemed a bit more open at the time, at least, she had thought he did. Of course, she wasn't exactly focused on that back then.

"I quite agree." The sound of Dumbledore's voice caught them all off guard, especially saying that he agreed with those against them being there that night. It had been _his_ idea, after all! "I agree. If I had my wish, then no student of Hogwarts would ever come to harm, nor would they ever be involved in a war - especially a war as terrible as the one with Voldemort."

"Then why..." Mrs. Weasley started, only to be cut off by the Headmaster as he continued.

"My greatest wish for my students if for them to live happy, carefree lives. If I had my way, none of them would even know the name Voldemort - or even know of a dark wizard most call You-Know-Who." They could hear his sigh through the door as he pushed back the chair he must have been sitting in. "However, that wish was never one to be granted, I can realise that."

"What?" came the startled reply from the matriarch of the Weasley household. "Why not? Surely we could..."

"It was never our intention for the young Mr. Weasley and his Miss. Lovegood to be taken from us, Molly," Dumbledore said kindly. "Nor was it ever our intention to allow Harry to be thrown into the Tri-Wizard tournament... or countless other mishaps."

"We don't bring them to the war," the older voice of Mad-Eye Moody said softly.

"The war brings itself to them," Kingsley finished at the same time as Tonks breathed the words herself.

"Precisely," Dumbledore said. "And that is why..."

"Are you three planning on standing out here all night, or shall we all just go inside?"

Tonks spun around as she drew her wand so fast that she knocked over the coat rack behind her. As she fired off a stunner blindly, whoever it had been behind them vanished, allowing the small table in the hallway that had been stacked with papers to be blown apart.

"I hardly think that was necessary, Nymphadora." The three turned in surprise to find Talisien leaning against the wall. "I am, after all, on your side."

"Sorry," Tonks said with a shrug. "You startled me, and around here, that usually means..."

"Stun first, and ask questions once safety is assured," Talisien finished for her. "Yes, I am aware. I believe that everyone within the room now knows that we are here. Shall we?" he suggested, striding forward to open the door for the three of them and himself.

Inside the study, Harry's first thought was that it was a lot bigger than he remembered it. Normally, it couldn't have held thirty to fourty people uncomfortably, but now there were easily that many, and there was still room for more. Hermione pulled up a chair to the table that everyone was sitting around, and Harry sat next to her right away.

They knew a few of those around the table, to be sure. Dumbledore was directly across from them, and Moody and Lupin were next to him. Aside from them, they knew that Kingsley was there too, and found him easily enough. He was sitting next to Arthur Weasley, who was with his wife, his two eldest sons and the twins. Percy, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Snape was on the other side of Dumbledore and had a large vial of a clear liquid sitting in front of him. To their great surprise, they saw Rita Skeeter standing in one corner, but she barely even looked in their direction - much to their relief. Beyond that, they knew Tonks who was sitting next to them, and Talisien who was standing in another corner, hidden within his cloak as usual. They didn't recognise anyone else, though Hermione vaguely knew who Gilive was, but she couldn't seem to pick him out.

Before anyone could say anything else, Fawkes suddenly appeared in the middle of the table in flames. When the flames died down, the phoenix was looking a little older than he had been earlier that night, and flew over to perch on Dumbledore's shoulder.

"I'd say that means everyone who is coming is here," he explained, turning to Snape. "Severus, if you would..."

"Certainly, Headmaster," he said curtly, pulling out a dropper from his robes and taking the cork off the vial in front of him. "Everyone is to put a single drop of this on their tongue to swallow," he said, not looking at anyone as he spoke. "No more, or you will spill your innermost secrets without even being asked."

"Veritaserum?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"To assure all within this room speak the truth," Dumbledore said softly. "We are all aware of what can happen when one person lies - just as we are all aware how easy it can be to do so."

It took about twenty minutes for the dropper to circulate around the room (it had to be refilled twice, which only slowed things down). Once that had happened, it was Talisien who spoke up next.

"So, this is a truth serum, then?"

"Indeed, Wanderer," Snape sneered back. "One that is impossible to break through. I began brewing it myself the night of the last full moon."

"Impossible?" Talisien asked. "Then why can I tell you that my name is Severus Snape, and I am the Divination professor at Hogwarts, as my potions making ability is sub par at best?"

Everyone was deadly silent suddenly, surprised by the elf's words. Aside from the known fact that one couldn't break the hold of the most powerful truth serum ever created, no one had spoken about Snape so openly in such a demeaning manour for quite some time.

"You didn't state it as a fact, but rather asked it as a question," Hermione offered after a minute of stunned silence. As everyone looked to her, her cheeks turned red quite quickly, as though she were embarrassed to be the centre of attention. "It's all I could come up with," she said in an even softer voice.

"Indeed I did," Talisien said as he pulled his hood down, ignoring those who were surprised by the deep scars on his left cheek. "However, such a thing holds no bonds over me anyway. My name is Severus Snape," he said clearly. After a moment, he shrugged. "It appears that I can still say what I wish without worry."

"Albus, this cannot be allowed to stand!" someone from further down the table said fiercely. "If he can break through veritaserum, how can we trust him?"

Talisien suddenly vanished from sight, only to reappear behind the speaker. "You have little choice in the matter," he said simply. "Believe me, if I wasn't trustworthy, I wouldn't still be standing here. I'd be destroying you."

Before anyone could shout out at his rash comment, Dumbledore stood quickly. "Talisien, please," he said calmly. "You know better than to spread mistrust..."

"Yes, I do Albus," he said with a nod, flitting out of sight and appearing in the corner again. "However, I felt it prudent to point out the flaw in the serum nonetheless. If I can break it, who is to say others can't as well?"

"Others do not have elven blood within their veins."

Talisien again flitted out of sight, this time to end up next to the fireplace that Harry had previous thought as one of the only two in the house. Before he could say anything, however, Mad-Eye Moody stood up quite quickly, his wand drawn. "If you don't stop apparating around in here, then I'm going to have to curse you!" he said fiercely. "Such a thing is traceable, you know!"

"If I was apparating, you'd know it," Talisien said calmly, ignoring the wand pointing at him. "As it is, I am not. I am simply moving slightly less than near instantaneous," he explained. "I am sorry to have upset you... I am used to moving around at all times. It throws off anyone watching me, and keeps me ready in case of an emergency."

"Constant Vigilance?" Harry couldn't help but ask, causing both Moody and Talisien to look to him sharply before - to his surprise - Moody broke out into a grin. With his grizzled features, it looked more like a grimace, but Harry understood that that was what he was trying to do.

"You've got the right idea, Potter."

He's talking about small teleportations,- Hermione purred in an undertone to Harry, so no one would notice the odd sound in amongst the large amount of people. -Long distance teleportation is difficult and draining, and you have to be intimately aquainted with the terrain. Three steps to the side, however, is a bit easier, but would take years of practice so you didn't end up getting a rock stuck in a part of you because you misstepped...-

He's probably had a good thousand years of practice,- Harry purred back before falling silent again.

It was quite a bit later when everyone finally settled down again so the meeting could actually take place. Harry had thought he'd be a bit more excited to be taking part in an Order of the Phoenix meeting, especially after having been denied the right so often in the past. However, he felt nothing of the sort - instead, he felt a dread... a cold, hard dread that was clinging to him like a parasite.

"Miss. Granger... Hermione," Dumbledore said calmly once everyone had taken a seat. "We'd like to hear from you what happened two weeks ago in Hogsmeade, if you would..."

"I'd start there, sir," she said with a weak smile. "But it might make more sense to start before that, when we found out that something was going to happen."

"Very well," he said, holding up a hand to keep everyone else silent from asking questions. "You may proceed."

Hermione fumbled for Harry's hand beneath the table. He clasped hers with a calm that he in no way truly felt, weaving his fingers in with hers as he gave her a soft squeeze to encourage her.

"It all started the night that Harry finally perfected something," she started, looking to Dumbledore for some clue as to how to cover that topic. He nodded, and she understood that everyone in the Order knew about his training. "In his animagus form, he was out on the grounds of Hogwarts getting used to it when he found out that Snape was emerging from the castle."

"Given that it was late at night, I thought something was strange," Harry took over. "So, curious as I often am, I set about trying to find out what was going on. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that he had met with Antonin Dolohov at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where they spoke at great length about a plan that was being put into action. We now know that the plan was to take place in Hogsmeade, but at the time, I wasn't sure. We figured it was either Hogsmeade of the Forbidden Forest itself, given how Dolohov asked Snape to keep Talisien away from the trip at all costs."

"A fact that I, conveniently enough, had no control over," Snape pointed out when several members looked to him.

"It sounded like Snape was trying to learn more about the plan, but Dolohov kept the secret pretty well," Harry added, looking back to Hermione again. He was quite pleased that no one had corrected him in calling Snape without the Professor in front, and oddly enough, that put him at ease a little.

"Harry then told the rest DA about it," Hermione took over again when he nodded to her. "We worked out a plan - Ron was the one behind it in the end, he's really good with tactics..." she trailed off as the impact of that statement hit her hard. After a moment of silence, she took a deep breath and kept going. "Anyway, the long and the short of it is this: half of us where to go to Hogsmeade, and the other half stay in the castle to watch over things there."

"I was given a coin by the Headmaster, so I could be alerted if I wasn't around when whatever it was to happened finally took place," Talisien spoke up then. "Severus spoke to Albus the night he found out about it, by the way."

"In Hogsmeade, we split up further into two teams of four. Later, I found out that the other team - consisting of Dean Thomas, Cho Chang, Terry Boot and Julia Carmichael - split up into twos to keep an eye out at both ends of the town while Ron, Luna, Hermione and I wandered all over, acting as normal as possible."

"We hardly need a blow-by-blow account of your activities in Hogsmeade," Snape said curtly, motioning with a hand to speed things along. While a few people did glare at him for his comments, Harry nodded discretely to Hermione, suggesting that she might as well listen.

"We stopped in front of the Shrieking Shack, where Ron told Luna about our adventures in third year," Hermione explained. "As we turned to leave, her new robes got caught on the fence and went over the cliff."

"I volunteered to climb down after them," Harry admitted in a soft voice. "Although I obviously regret that now..."

"It wasn't your fault," Hermione said quickly, turning to him as though he were the only one in the room suddenly. "This was well planned on their part - even if you had been around, they probably figured it would have been the best time to strike."

"I know," he said softly. "But still, I can't help but wonder..."

"What ifs will only trap you in the past, Harry," Talisien offered quietly when no one else spoke up. "It does not due to dwell on what if. It is better to think about what is still to come, and deal with it as necessary."

When Harry finally nodded, Hermione went on again. "We were watching Harry as he climbed down to retrieve Luna's robes. When he was about halfway up again, we were caught by surprise as eight Death Eaters suddenly apparated around us. Before we could even react, they had stunned and bound Ron and Luna, and Lucius Malfoy had put me under the Cruciatus Curse."

"You were put under that?" Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, standing quickly. "My word... you poor thing! Is there anything..."

"It was two weeks ago, Molly," Mr. Weasley reminded her softly. "Anything that could have been done to help her has already happened, don't worry."

"During this time," Harry said, taking over again. "I was climbing back up the cliff. When I heard shouting and then Hermione's scream, I panicked. I tried to get my galleon so I could alert any of the DA who were close by - as well as Talisien - but I had left it in my cloak pocket, which I had taken off and left at the top of the cliff. Well, despite having just been told earlier that one couldn't summon clothing, I did it anyway, and the cloak was on my back the next moment, and I was activating the coin."

"One property of the cloaks, Harry, is to always be there when you need them the most," Talisien explained. "I didn't tell you earlier, as I felt it would be obvious when the time came for it to be necessary."

Harry nodded his thanks and looked around the room again before going on. Everyone was hanging off his and Hermione's words. "I transformed into my animal and flew to the top of the cliff, rather than take the time to climb. I figured that it really didn't matter about keeping it a secret right then - my friends were in danger, and I wasn't just going to sit back and do nothing!"

"Were you seen?" Dumbledore asked intently, interrupting him before he could go on.

"I don't think so," Harry admitted. "They all seemed too intent on torturing Hermione to pay any attention to the cliff itself. I managed to stun two without them even noticing before things took a turn again." He closed his eyes to keep going, not wanting to see their reactions to the rest of the tale as he knew it. "The rest surrounded me then, but I managed to protect myself from the first onslaught of spells with a modified Protego," he explained, looking directly at Snape as he said this. "I failed to notice someone reviving the two that I had stunned, though, and they blew me off the side of the cliff again, following that attack with a stunner. I really don't know how I survived the fall, to be honest."

"That would be my fault," Hermione pointed out. "I was up by that time, but couldn't really stop what was happening. Instead, when I saw what they had done to Harry, I rushed to the edge of the cliff to slow his decent. It wasn't what I should have done tactically, but I wasn't about to let Harry fall to his death. I managed that before any of the Death Eaters tried to do anything to me. Malfoy wanted to put me under the curse for a third time..."

"Third time? I thought you were only under it once before," Tonks said, peering around Harry to Hermione.

"No, I was put under twice. First time was before Harry was up, the second time was as he was starting his attacks. The second was a lot shorter, but it was still painful..." She took a deep breath to try and wash herself of such memories before going on again. "He was going to curse me again, but Bellatrix LeStrange put it on him instead, saying that he was wasting time. As odd as it sounds, I'm actually thankful that he was - otherwise, they would have stunned and bound me right off as well, and then I'd have been taken too. Anyway, he then tried to stun me, but instead, it sent me over the cliff, where I landed gently next to Harry before passing out."

Everyone but Talisien looked surprised at this, and he stepped forward again to speak, though he didn't flit out of sight this time - perhaps out of consideration of those gathered, or perhaps for a different reason. "That would be thanks to the charm on her wrist in the form of a bracelet. It was originally in the possession of the elves, but Harry was given it near the beginning of the school year, and he gave it to her as a gift, thereby sealing the charms. They keep her safe from kidnapping, essentially, though I won't get into just what else they can do here. It isn't relevant."

"So what happened then?" Kingsley asked, sitting forward at the table. "If both Harry and Hermione were out of it, then how were any of the Death Eaters stopped? I understood that six were put away due to this already."

"If by put away, you mean buried in the ground, then yes," Talisien explained. "Though even that would be pushing it, as I incinerated them afterwards. I arrived just as Hermione was sent over the cliff. I cut down six of them, and managed to catch the woman LeStrange in the arm before she vanished, taking Miss Lovegood with her. Malfoy took Mr. Weasley, but I did manage to steal his cloak from him before he did so - meaning we have Malfoy's cloak to go through for any clues," he added, tossing the black fabric onto the table. No one was quite sure where he had pulled it out from, but it didn't really matter.

"By cut down, you mean a cutting spell?"

"No," Talisien said flatly. "I mean I pulled out my sword and cleaved them in half."

Silence met his words for a few minutes before Dumbledore sat forward again. "Very well. Does anyone have any questions about what happened, then, or shall we go on?"

"If you were watching them, Talisien, why did it take so long to get there?" Mrs. Weasley asked pointedly. "I thought you were supposed to protect them, wasn't that what was said?"

"Indeed," Talisien said softly. "And no ones regrets that as much as I. When I felt the coin activate - I wasn't following them directly, as I didn't know if they were targets or if something else was - I had to find them first. I was on the other side of the town entirely. Although I made good time in finding them, it wasn't enough, I'm afraid." He then bowed his head, looking at the floor. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I know how you must feel... but the Order is doing everything it can to rescue your child."

"How can you possibly know how I feel?" she shouted back before anyone could stop her. "My youngest son has been kidnapped by You-Know-Who!"

"My eldest daughter was killed years ago in a war!" Talisien snapped back. "So don't speak to me about what I don't understand, when it's you who doesn't comprehend just how dangerous this all is! And for your sake, I ask the forest spirits to ensure that you never do!" He then whirled around and was gone in an instant. The door opened and slammed shut without anyone really being able to see it move, but they knew that he was gone this time for good.

Silence met his exit for several minutes until Harry sat forward again. "Professor Dumbledore... what's being done to find Ron and Luna?"

"We are doing everything we can to find them," Dumbledore replied softly. "I only wish we had more that we could tell you right now... unfortunately, we don't know. Severus is trying to determine it, but every time he has been summoned, it has been to a different place that he does not recognise, and he had not seen either captive since it occurred."

"I suspect the Dark Lord does not want to let me know in case Albus questions me on the matter. He does not realise how skilled an Occulmens I truly am," Snape said, his voice not full of pride for once at such a statement. If Harry and Hermione didn't know any better, they'd have thought he actually sounded... concerned.

"But we're sure they're still alive?"

"For one simple reason, yes," Dumbledore said calmly, looking over to the Weasley's presence as though encouraging them to explain.

"Ron's hand is in the Mortal Peril position," Mr. Weasley explained as he stood up to address everyone. "It had not yet turned to the deceased point, so we know he's still alive... just in trouble. Serious trouble."

"And before you ask," Snape said, the sneer back to his voice. "I have no idea what the Dark Lord wants them for, but he has said he needed them, as they are both underaged purebloods. I am trying to figure out why that is so important."

"It doesn't have anything to do with whatever it is you're guarding, does it?" Harry asked, looking directly at the Headmaster and ignoring the shocked looks and words from those others in the room. "I believe you promised me the truth on my birthday, sir," he added in an undertone that he was sure was heard by everyone in the room anyway.

"Indeed I did, Harry," Dumbledore sighed. "Indeed I did. I wish I could tell you, too. I am unaware of just how he could possibly use either of your friends - we are guarding various wizarding households, as well as numerous rooms of the Department of Mysteries. Rooms that I am sure you are aware of. The main concern at this stage is the time room."

"Albus, they don't need to be aware of that!"

"I do not intend on breaking my word to Harry," he returned calmly. "I will not lose his trust again. It means too much to me."

"More than it probably should," Snape muttered. "He is just an attention-seeking student, after all. Takes after his father in that regard..."

"Enough, Severus. I have told you my thoughts and wishes in regards to your comments like that," Dumbledore warned. "No more."

Snape didn't reply, but he did nod - though he looked like he'd have rather drunk a beaker of undiluted bubotuber puss.

After a bit more small talk at the meeting, Tonks suggested quietly to Hermione that she might want to have a talk with her parents while they were in the same house. This was quite well timed, actually, as Lupin came over and asked Harry if he could have a word in private. After promising to join Hermione with her parents shortly, he agreed with Lupin and the two left to head to the kitchen for whatever Lupin wanted to talk about.

Once in the kitchens, Harry found piles of food on the table and every available counter space as well. It would have taken hours or days for most people to cook that much food, which lead him to only one logical conclusion.

"Where is he?"

"What?" Lupin asked, startled by the chill in Harry's voice suddenly.

"Kreacher?" Harry demanded. "Where is he?"

Lupin sat down hard on one of the wooden chairs that was next to the table and pushed aside one of the plates of food - Harry vaguely noticed that they might have been a form of masher tubers, but he didn't really care, given how torn his godfather looked suddenly. "Now Harry, I have to make sure you know that I'm not proud of it..."

Of all the things he had expected, that wasn't one of them, he had to admit. "Not proud of it?" Harry asked in surprise. "He's still around, doing what he's always done?"

"No."

Harry stared at Lupin for a minute or two before he noticed how horrible he was looking suddenly. "You're going to have to give me more than a 'no,' Remus," Harry said softly, pulling up another chair to sit next to the werewolf.

"Do you know what day it was, six days after Sirius died?" Lupin asked in a whisper. Obviously knowing that Harry had no idea, he went on right away. "It was the night of a full moon, Harry. And I didn't take my Wolfsbane potion - don't get me wrong, Dumbledore sends me a batch every month... but I refused it for once. I wanted to go mad... it made it easier..."

A very vivid image of a house elf being mauled by an out-of-control werewolf suddenly assailed Harry's senses, and he choked back the sudden taste of vomit that was trying to force its way up his throat. He decided then that he wouldn't tell Hermione what had become of the miserable little creature that had betrayed Sirius.

"Been busy in the kitchen lately, then?" Harry asked, a smile on his face as he tried to joke with Lupin. "Looks like this would have taken days to cook... why didn't you tell me you knew how?"

"This was almost all Mrs. Weasley, though Hermione's father tends to help out from time to time as well - he says it helps him feel connected still, even when they aren't being told as much as they might like." Lupin sighed as he looked up to Harry and met his gaze again. "I think I'm glad I hadn't eaten much recently, being involved in so many different projects for Dumbledore, and can take time to enjoy a lot of this food in the morning. Otherwise, we'd be overrun before much longer. I'm hoping members of the Order take a lot with them, too - that should help some. Be a shame for it to go bad..."

"Ron would say it was a terrible waste, letting food spoil," Harry whispered, his mind returning to the real reason he and Hermione had left Hogwarts that night for the meeting. "What was it you wanted anyway, Remus?"

The sudden transformation from tired and worried to stern and strict was remarkable as Lupin sat up to stare at him. "Now Harry, you and I both know you've managed to inherit your father's dangerous streak for breaking the rules," he explained. "But this time... this time, I need you to give me your word that you aren't going to do something rash and run off to try and rescue your friends."

"I don't intend to," Harry said easily with a shrug. "If I go rushing off, I fully intend to have thought things through and come up with several back up plans, just in case they are necessary."

"No, I don't think you understand, Harry..."

"No, you don't understand!" Harry replied, standing up from his chair as it shot away from him, crashing into the wall next to the fireplace. "I am not going to sit back and do nothing! This is a war, in case you've forgotten that, and I'm a rather large part of it already!"

"And I'm telling you that that is exactly what you shouldn't do!" Lupin replied, standing up as well, though his chair didn't seem to develop a tendency to fly like Harry's had. "You can't bring yourself to Voldemort, it's what he wants!"

"Then he's going to be in for a shock, isn't he?" Harry asked. "Because I'm not some scared eleven year old anymore!" He turned and stormed towards the door to the kitchen, intent on going upstairs to join Hermione and her parents for a few minutes until they had to return to the school. "Oh, and I think someone should be watching Snape these days, too. He's acting even odder than usual. Wanna know what I mean? Then ask him!"

Part of him felt bad for storming out on his godfather, especially given his words only a minute ago about them being involved in a war. Wars meant people died, and he didn't want the last thing he did with someone to be yelling at them. The rest of him was just plain angry at the man for trying to keep him from doing _anything_ to help!

With a sigh, he turned back and stuck his head into the kitchen. "Look, I know you only meant the best by not wanting me to go galavanting off, but you can rest assured that if I do do something, I'll know what I'm getting into this time. Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me."

It was with that statement that he again turned, only this time he vaulted up the stairs and went down the long corridor - his house was still deceptively big, even to him - and stopped next to the bedroom that he knew the Grangers had taken residence in. Although he heard voices on the inside, he didn't want to eavesdrop on anything, so he knocked right away.

Hermione enveloped him in a warm embrace the moment he stepped into the room. To his surprise, however, this was followed by a hug from her mother, and then a warm handshake - all he figured he could really even ask for - from her father as well.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked right away. He couldn't help but smile at that - she could read him so effectively again, and he loved that fact.

"Nothing and everything," he replied with a shrug. "Nothing that can be solved, and everything that's going on these days," he continued.

"So Professor Lupin told you not to do anything to try and find Ron and Luna, then?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "I told him that I'd think before acting, but I'm not about to simply sit around doing nothing, either."

He must have been more riled up than he thought, because Hermione's hands were on both his cheeks suddenly, imploring him to look to her directly. Rather than simply succumb to such a thing, he leaned in and kissed her gently, warmly on the lips before pulling away again.

"Remus has your best interests at heart, Harry," Jane offered.

"But we have those at heart, as well as knowing our Hermione better than Remus knows you," Mike added. "We were just talking about the same thing."

Harry waited for them to continue, and they didn't let him down. "Last time you left Hogwarts and tried to save someone, you were all very lucky, all things considered," Jane said softly. "We know not everyone was, but overall, you were extremely lucky."

He looked over to Hermione, and was startled to see tears brimming in her rich brown eyes. "They want us to be smart and lucky, if we ever try anything like that again."

"I will do everything in my power to keep your daughter safe," Harry vowed, nodding thankfully to both of them as he held Hermione again. The feeling was just so right, and it didn't matter to him at all that her parents were right there.

"We know you will, son," Mike said warmly, standing up from the bed where he had sat down next to his wife a minute earlier. "We know you will. Just like we know she'll be doing the same for you."

He nodded to him again and closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply. It had been a very long since he had been so calm, so happy. Just being in the room with only Hermione and her parents was doing wonders for him.

"So, we hear you mastered your animagus form, Harry," Jane said as she, too, stood from the bed. "We've seen our Mia do hers a lot now - not that we're used to it by any means, but it is remarkable to see. Is there any chance you'd be willing to show us yours?"

Harry would never stop thanking whoever was willing to listen to his prayers that not all muggles were as spiteful and hate filled as his uncle, aunt, and cousin when it came to magics, witches, and wizards. Without a word, he stepped away from Hermione and closed his eyes. Although such a detail wasn't necessary to change, it felt a bit better that way, and didn't make him lose his balance at all - eyes opened, the change was so fast that he was sometimes left feeling a little dizzy.

"Oh, wow!" Mike exclaimed, making Harry open his eyes and turn his great feline head towards the man. "You are an impressive looking animal, aren't you?"

"Thanks," Harry returned with a sneeze. He then cursed lightly to himself for the fact that he still hadn't kicked the habit of trying to chuckle or laugh as a lyra. That said, he sneezed again at the shocked looks on both of Hermione's parents' faces at hearing him talk. "What?" he asked, despite the fact that he knew anyway.

"An animal talking English?"

"Si vous voulez, je peut parles Français? Osoraku japaniizu? Hollands? Español?"

Harry, stop teasing my parents,- Hermione hissed at him softly before he could list any other language. When he looked over to her and grinned, her eyes went wide and she shook her head. "Oh no you don't!" she said strictly, but Harry ignored her as he looked back to her parents.

"Yes, I can talk - and those were French, Japanese, Dutch, and Spanish, by the way. But Hermione can talk too - she can talk kneazle, when she's in form or not," he explained. "It's part of being a magical animal, I suppose. Lyra's talk any language, though - animal or human or otherwise, apparently."

"You can talk like an animal?" Jane asked in surprise, turning to Hermione who, for her part, had turned pink all of a sudden. "Really?"

Yes,- she mewed in a loud enough voice for both her parents to hear. -I can talk like a cat.-

"She said she can talk like a cat," Harry translated for them, despite the fact that it was rather obvious that she was about to do just that anyway.

Prat.-

"Now, now, Hermione. Not in front of your parents..." he said with a grin as he changed back into himself again easily enough. At her look of indignation, he held up his hands quickly. "Sorry!" he said in a rushed voice. "I was just trying to get you to smile again."

"What's there to smile about, especially tonight?" she retorted. "It is almost five in the morning, after all. We'll be asleep until noon at least!"

"With permission from Dumbledore," Harry pointed out. "Besides, we did hear something good today."

"And what's that?"

"We know they're both alive still... and by the sounds of it, they will be for quite some time," he said softly. He didn't question her need for another hug, and took her into his arms easily.

"I love you," she whispered to him, paying attention to only him again, despite her parents being there.

"I know," he promised her, holding her a little closer and a little tighter. "Merlin, I know."

It was almost sunrise by the time everyone started getting ready to leave Grimmauld Place to return to Hogwarts again. Hermione's parents were sleeping, and Remus was just heading off to his room as well to get as much shut eye as he could before the day actually started.

After getting a bite to eat in the kitchen - which was certainly no hard task - Harry and Hermione started up the stairs. However, Harry caught sight of someone just as they started up that he wanted to talk to, and urged Hermione to go ahead of him, promising that he'd catch up by the fireplace. Although confused by the request, she nodded and climbed the steps slowly, her exhaustion evident.

For his part, Harry pulled back into an alcove that he assumed was normally used for cloaks or something - he hadn't noticed it before, really - so it would be less likely he'd be spotted. From his vantage point, he had a perfect view and could hear what was being said easily between his favourite and least favourite professors at Hogwarts.

"They tell me that you are something of a spy, Severus," Talisien said calmly. He had his hood back up now, and seemed more distant than he had during the part of the meeting he was actually present for.

"Indeed, elf," Snape sneered in return. "Something I'm sure even you can grasp the concept of, and understand why my role is so important."

"Your role is nothing," Talisien spat back. "Nothing, if you can't tell us a single bit of information to help! You told me I had to be in Hogsmeade that day, so you've got to know more than what you've said!" he said fiercely. Although nothing was evident from his angle, Harry was sure that the Wanderer had a hand out towards Snape, as though threatening him.

"You think so, do you?" Snape asked in mock surprise. "It never occurred to you that I was trapped under the veritiserum just like everyone else, did it?" He then shook his head and made to walk away from the conversation. "You weren't even there, so don't question me on things you can't have heard."

"Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean I wasn't there!"

"Mad Eye would have spotted you!"

"Not," Talisien seethed quietly, taking a step closer to Snape, looking much more terrifying that Harry could ever remember seeing the elf. "If I had completely hidden my magical trail, and continuously moved around." He then took a deep breath and stepped back. "I'm giving you one more chance to tell me what you know."

"And what will you do if I refuse?"

"Kill you and take your place," Talisien said easily. "Magics to conceal one's identity aren't that complicated after decades of study. I bet I can get your image in about a day, though acting like a slimy git has never been my strong point!"

"I'd like to see you try..."

In a movement faster than Harry's eyes could follow, Talisien had leapt backwards and Snape had apparently been pushed to the side. Where he had been standing, a long black arrow was quivering in the wooden, the feathered fletchings still recovering from their assault against the bow that must have been used.

"If I had not pushed you aside with my own magics, Severus, you would have been killed by my arrow. Understand how serious I am now?"

"I don't bow down to pressure, Talisien. I fight against the Dark Lord every day with my will - what makes you think your threats could possibly scare me?"

"No?" Talisien asked. "Bodily harm doesn't worry you, then? Alright... I know that you are keeping something from us all, Severus. With a word to Albus, he'd know too, and then where would you stand? Was that even veritiserum you fed us earlier, or just water?"

"I do not care for all these questions, so-called Wanderer," Snape said, lifting his head again as he stood and dusted off his robes. "And I don't have to answer to you anyway. If you must know, ask Dumbledore. He has as many suspicions as I do about what the Dark Lord is after. And mine are probably less accurate, given how He doesn't want me to know the plans, in case Dumbledore 'learns' of my spying."

"Very well," Talisien said, apparently satisfied by the answer, though Harry certainly wouldn't have been. "I have one request of you, then."

"And why should I bow down to this... request?"

"Because... you might find yourself in need of someone with skills of my... caliber," Talisien said slowly. "And if you will heed this request, I will consider heeding one of yours later."

"You'll do something for me if I do something for you?"

"Within reason, yes."

Snape seemed to seriously be considering this offer, which surprised Harry. He hadn't figured the potion's master would ever be willing to stoop to asking for help from anyone, for any reason. "What is your request?"

"If you find out anything that is important and has a definite date on it, I must insist that you tell someone who has the ability and nerve to act upon it," Talisien explained. "Inaction will destroy the light in this war if you do not."

"Tell someone who will act?" Talisien nodded, and Snape sighed as though in deep thought. "Very well, Wanderer. I will heed this request... just make sure you are willing to heed mine."

"You have something already, then?"

Snape nodded, and pulled out a roll of parchment from his robes. "This is a list of ingredients I would like to have in my storehouses. Unfortunately, many of them are rare, impossible to find, or illegal to bring into the country from afar. I would like this list fulfilled, and the contents in my storehouse by the end of the year."

Talisien unrolled the parchment and appeared to read it from top to bottom before rolling it up again and tucking it into his own cloak. "Very well. Uphold your end, and you will see all these and more," Talisien promised. Snape didn't have a chance to say anything else before the elf suddenly disappeared.

It was only after Snape stopped looking around as though searching for Talisien did Harry step out from the alcove and move towards him quickly, hoping he wouldn't leave. To his surprise, the Potion's Master turned to face him as he approached.

"I am very busy, Potter, and more than a little tired. I do not need to deal with any of your tripe today..." he started, turning to walk away.

"I was going to thank you for that tip with the Protego shielding charm," Harry explained. "But now I don't think I'll bother."

"Too arrogant to offer even a word of thanks, when you know you would have failed faster without such amendments?"

"No, I just know when someone would accept thanks, and when they'd rather just throw it back in my face," Harry said with a shrug, turning back to the stairs. "Oh, and Professor? I don't intend to do anything rash, but I do intend on rescuing my friends. Just so you are aware of that."

He didn't stick around to wait for Snape's reaction before bounding up the stairs again to meet up with Hermione by the fireplace. "Just wanted to say thanks to Snape," Harry explained softly, noticing how tired she looked and not wanting to do anything too rash to wake her completely. She looked ready to fall asleep practically standing up, after all. "Not that he accepted it."

"Of course he didn't," Hermione said with a yawn. "Too proud for his own good. Going to get himself killed that way, too."

No more words were exchanged between the two before they made their way to the fire and used the floo network to return to Hogwarts. After nodding to Fawkes - who was almost fully grown again now - they started to make their way back to the Gryffindor common room, and more accurately, their bed.

Although daylight was starting to crest over the horizon, Harry didn't care as he pulled the curtains shut around them and cast the silencing and locking charms to keep their privacy. Hermione was already lying down with her eyes closed, not bothering to change, and he thought that looked like an excellent idea.

Once settled, he couldn't seem to shut off his brain, though. Thoughts of Ron and Luna... or more likely, thoughts of what was probably being done to Ron and Luna kept surfacing in his mind, as did the conversation between Talisien and Snape that he had watched not long ago.

"Can't sleep either?" Hermione whispered to him after almost an hour of lying in their bed curled up together. He looked down to her in surprise - he had figured she was asleep, but then again, he hadn't really been paying attention to her breathing patterns, and so he simply shook his head. "Well, let's go see Madame Pomfrey. I'm sure she's got more potion brewed up for those who can't sleep at night."

The thick blue liquid was one that both Harry and Hermione had some experience with in the past couple of weeks. Though normally never given to one under the age of fourty five, apparently Dumbledore had spoken to the Healer about the two of them, and they were granted special permission. The potion acted like a fatigue inhibitor, tricking their body into believing it had just had eight hours of sleep, while leaving the mind knowing otherwise. It was usually used within apothecaries for tedious potions that literally took days of brewing without stopping.

Unfortunately enough, the Liquid Sleep was one such potion...

Anyway, after both downing the stuff that felt like sand going down their throats, neither replied to Madame Pomfrey's warnings about abusing the potion and it not making up for a real night's rest. Once they had finally left the Hospital wing, Hermione told Harry that she was going to try and take her mind off things with her Arithmancy essay due at the end of the year.

"Hey Dean," Harry called to the sixth year Gryffindor as he entered the hall. The boy was standing in front of him almost instantly, as though awaiting orders. This thought brought both a touch of pride and more than a little worry to Harry's mind - both of which he pushed aside for the time being. "Could you gather your team and meet me outside the main entrance?"

"Something come up?" Dean asked at once. "You know where they are?"

Harry closed his eyes and shook his head as he turned to leave without eating breakfast. He doubted he could keep food down right then anyway. With his eyes closed still, the only reason he didn't run right into Ginny was because she caught him first, causing him to leap back and draw his wand as though suddenly threatened.

Although every eye in the Great Hall was instantly on him, for once he decided that it simply didn't matter, and he returned his wand to his belt. "Sorry," he mumbled to her. "I'm a little on edge."

"You aren't alone there."

Harry nodded and took a step passed her, but then thought better of it and stopped next to her. "Can you grab Kailyn and Colin, and meet me outside? Dean's team is already coming... and I have to talk to each of you."

"Will you tell me what you learned last night?"

"I can tell you now in front of everyone if you'd like, so that tells you how much I found out," he said with a sigh. Her brown eyes darkened instantly, the hope fading from them quickly. "But if something is discovered, I think I'll be one of the first told."

"What?" Ginny asked, startled by that proclamation. "Why?"

"Just call it a theory... based on my past and, as Hermione so aptly put it, my 'saving-people' thing," he explained. For once, he held no malice in his voice when he described himself thus, but the youngest Weasley didn't have a chance to ask anything else as Harry had already started walking away again.

The cool late February air felt refreshing on his face, and he stopped on the steps leading out of the castle, letting the sensation wash over him. It was still the same... the one thing that hadn't changed in the full time he had been at Hogwarts. The wind was still cool, and he still enjoyed the feeling of it tickling his senses. The bite of cold was a reminder that he was still alive, even if he didn't feel like it at times recently.

"Hermione not with you for once?" Harry turned quickly to find Cho walking down the steps ahead of Dean, Susan, and Parvati. "Something wrong?" If he was startled by her apparent concern, he said nothing of it before turning around to face the grounds again.

"He asked for you guys too, huh?" Colin's voice sounded behind Harry, and he knew that the seven people he had asked to come meet him were there. He didn't have to turn around to know that Susan and Parvati were the furthest away on the top steps still, or to know that Ginny, Kailyn, Cho, and Dean were almost right beside him now.

"I did," Harry admitted, finally turning to face the crowd. "And I'll give you all a choice now - we can do this one on one, or as a group. How do you all prefer?"

"What are we doing, exactly?" Parvati asked calmly as she started down the steps as well, pulling her cloak tighter around her lithe frame. Unlike Harry, she wasn't fond of the cold.

"I'm going to attempt to talk each of you out of the DA," Harry explained in an oddly calm voice. "Because there will be a time later this year when I intend to leave the school to fight... and anyone in the DA will be asked to help." He took a breath, closed his eyes again, and turned back towards the lake. "And I only want you to stay if you seriously want to help... because I'm not going to force anyone to come along with me."

"You're joking," Ginny said, her voice higher and tighter than usual. When he didn't respond at all, she put a hand on his shoulder to try and force him to look at her, but he shrugged her off and was three steps further down without any warning. She took a step closer and repeated herself before saying anything else. "You can't be serious... we all know what we're in for, Harry! And you can't talk us out of it. If it means going off to fight Death Eaters, or even Voldemort himself, then we're in for the long haul."

"Why?" Harry asked simply in a quiet voice.

"Ron's my brother, and you're as good as one!" she shouted back. "And I'm not about to..."

"Alright," Harry cut her off with another quiet word. "Ginny... you can stay. And you can help me... again."

"If you think you're just taking Ginny out of the lot of us, you are mistaken, mate!" Dean said, stepping down until he was level with Ginny. "I'm coming too, because it's the right thing to do. No one said it would be easy, or even fun... but this is a war, and I'll be cursing myself down to bloody hell if I just sit back and do nothing about it."

"A need to prove oneself isn't a reason."

"I'm not proving myself to anyone!" Dean spat back. "I'm in the DA to protect my family! To protect my friends! To protect those I care about, those I love!"

Harry's shoulders seemed to sag slightly before he nodded. "Fine. You can stay too."

"And he's not going without me," Cho said fiercely. "I need to fight in this war, and you bloody well know why!"

"Vengeance is the surest way to a quick death," Harry said calmly. "I'm sorry, Cho."

"This isn't about vengeance, Harry," Cho whispered. "It's about preventing it from happening again, to anyone else. Enough people have died in this war... and it's about time we all stepped up to protect those who can't protect themselves."

Harry didn't reply at all for a full minute before he finally nodded, and Cho stepped down silently to stand next to Dean.

"Do you know why I joined the DA last year, Harry?" Susan asked from near the top step still. She obviously didn't expect an answer - which was probably just as well - as she kept going right away. "I joined for a lot of reasons. I joined because I hated that Umbridge toad. I joined because I wanted to learn how to defend myself. I joined because I wanted to learn how to defend others."

"Great," Harry said. "Glad to be of service. If that's all, though..."

"It is not all!" Susan interrupted him before he could finish his thought. "The main reason I joined... the real reason that I wanted to be a part of the group that was looking to you as a leader is because I believe." She paused for a few seconds to let that sink in before going on. "I believe in the light. I believe in fighting against evil - the epic battles between good and evil. I believe in our side... and know that no war is won by one person alone, be he a young infant or a nearly grown wizard, or even someone as powerful as Dumbledore. I joined to help, Harry... because I want others to have the same choice to make later on, when it's their turn to step up to the plate."

"I'm not a fool, Harry," Susan finished softly. "I'm behind you, because I believe you stand a chance where everyone else has failed in the past. And I want to help give you that chance, no matter the cost."

"Even at your own life?" Harry asked, an edge to his voice suddenly.

"If that's what it takes... then yes," Susan said softly. "I'd be much happier living a long, healthy life than kicking it before the end of this year... but I'd be much worse off if I wasn't willing to put my life on the line so others wouldn't have to."

"You'd have made a fine Gryffindor, with courage like that," Colin pointed out.

"She makes a better Hufflepuff," Harry whispered. "With loyalty about all else..." He didn't say his answer to the unasked question, but simply nodded. Although no one had said anything about it at all, she also made her way down to a couple of steps above Harry to stand next to Ginny, Dean, and Cho.

Harry's ears - though they were nowhere near as good as Hermione's - picked up the soft sound of metal being dragged across a sheath, and knew Kailyn had stepped down to get a bit closer, though still not on the lower rank just yet, and had drawn her short swords. "I have lived with stories and tales about fighting the darkness," she explained. "And you might think I'm too young for this... but I hardly think measuring my age by human standards makes sense, given that I've seen more moons than all of you," she added. "Truth is, I'm scared. I'm scared half to death of fighting this Dark Lord... I've heard tales and had nightmares of other Dark Lords for more than fifteen years - that I remember, anyway - and this one sounds like he ranks up there with the best of them."

"Wait a minute!" Dean said, drawing his wand and pointing it at Kailyn suddenly. Cho mirrored his action, as did Susan, though Ginny kept her eyes on Harry instead. "What's with all the talk about the 'Dark Lord?' Only Death Eaters call him that, right Harry?"

"Even Snape can't call him anything else," Harry admitted.

"It's called showing proper respect," Kailyn said. Before anyone could respond to that, she had dropped both her weapons onto the stone steps, causing them to clatter down a couple of steps before coming to a rest just before the line of four students beneath her.

"Respect? Voldemort?" Ginny asked, incredulous at her admission.

"Yes," Kailyn said calmly. "There's a large difference between respect and admiration. I hold none of the second for any who turned dark... for I've seen some of what the light can do. One cannot argue, however, that Voldemort is a great Dark Lord. Terrible, evil, kills at will... there's not much more to look for in a Dark Lord save killing babies and drinking unicorn blood."

"He's tried to do both," Harry cut in softly.

"He's also tried to attack my home," Kailyn added. "And that is one thing I cannot just sit back and ignore. You should know by now, Harry, that it is nearly impossible for one of the Oak line to do that."

Harry sighed and nodded. "Fine."

Kailyn then nodded in return and walked down to join the others on the second step above Harry. As she passed over her dropped swords, both vanished completely again - meaning she had sheathed them without anyone even seeing her move to do so.

Colin and Parvati shared a quick look, and Parvati motioned to the younger Gryffindor to speak before she did. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, despite knowing that the gesture would surely be missed by Harry anyway. "I'm fighting for love," he said softly and calmly. "Love of my family - from my youngest brother all the way up to Denis, to my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone else I'm not thinking of right now. Love of my friends, who I'd stand by until the day Merlin brings Arthur back from Avalon, if that's what it takes to protect them. Love of life, as without that, this war has already been lost. And..."

"Colin?" Harry interrupted the younger boy, who stopped talking instantly. "I'm glad you outgrew carrying your camera around everywhere, because it would be a lot harder to handle you being in the group if you were still always using it."

Despite the tense situation, Colin couldn't help but grin as he stepped down and stopped next to Ginny, putting an arm around her shoulder before looking back up to Parvati, and then down to Harry again.

"Nobody here knows what it's like to be a twin, do they?" the sixth year Gryffindor girl asked defiantly. "Even Ginny, who has twin brothers, wouldn't know what it's like. Having a twin is a cross between your best dream where everything goes right and your worst nightmare, where everything is stripped from you. It's a dream, because, no matter what's going on, you always have each other to talk to, if no one else. It's a nightmare because of the worry... I hate worrying."

"I don't think..." Dean started, but Harry shook his head lightly, and he stopped speaking instantly, letting Parvati continue.

"Worrying about Padma is like worrying about myself... but it means so much more. I know she wants to be a part of this to protect me, but that's just the reason I need you to let me in, Harry," Parvati said urgently. "We have always protected each other, and can't stop now. You've said it yourself... V-V-V-Vold..." She tried to speak the name, but couldn't get anymore out. "He's out there, and one day, he'll come for us. I can't let that happen. Even if we both have to sneak into meetings and tag along in the shadows behind you, we'll both be a part of the DA. Believe me, if you thought Fred and George were good at getting around unseen, wait until you see us."

An image of Fred and George hovering around the Marauder's Map made Harry smile to himself and shake his head. "I seriously doubt that," he admitted. "I would know you were there," he added before turning around to face them all. "And I'd rather you be next to the rest of us so we can all help than have you hiding in the background but still tagging along - you'd be no help there, and probably in more danger."

Parvati stepped down until she was next to the others, and Harry stood tall on the step two down from them. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet," Harry said solemnly, looking to each for a moment before going onto the next. "Thank me if you live through it all." He then stepped up and passed them, returning to the castle. "I'll talk to everyone else between classes tomorrow," he added. "So please don't mention this to any of them."

Although he had said it as a request, the seven students who were standing on the steps of Hogwarts knew that it wasn't. Instead, it was one last thing... a test of trust. A test that none of them were willing to fail. They waited without words for the large metal double doors to bang shut before climbing the steps together to return to the castle silently.

It was probably very fortunate that it was a Sunday, given how neither Harry nor Hermione had any intention of going to class that day anyway. The Order meeting had really taken a lot out of them, and adding that to a complete lack of sleep save for the Liquid Sleep, which didn't really count, meant that they were mostly out of energy anyway.

However, when Hermione suggested to Harry during lunch that they go see Hagrid, he brightened almost instantly at the idea. They really had been neglecting him again that year, and Harry owed so much to the half giant.

Neither noticed that the temperature had taken a biting dive as they stepped outside, wrapped in their dark green cloaks. Although they weren't entirely sure even still why Talisien had felt it necessary to give them the garments, they weren't about to complain about it, either.

"'Lo 'Arry... 'lo 'Ermione..." Hagrid sounded tired too, and they skipped knocking on the door thanks to his voice calling to them from around back. "Care for a cuppa?"

"Not right now thanks, Hagrid," Hermione said pleasantly as they walked around to find him. They both froze the moment they came around the large hut, not having expected to find their friend in the state he was in.

Aside from only wearing a pair of slacks, he had more than a few cuts and scraps running along his upper body that made little sense until he started moving again. Apparently, he was cutting wood... or rather, breaking wood, only he wasn't very good at it without a tool, and kept getting cut on the sharper edges.

Beyond that, however, his eyes were large, red, and puffy, and there were the telltale tear stains down his large cheeks. As soon as he finished with the piece of wood he was working on, he turned and rushed towards them, pulling them both into a near bone-crushing hug. "Ow're ya holding up with e'ery thing?"

"We could be better," Harry admitted once they were set down again. "But..."

"Yeah. Know what ya mean," Hagrid said softly, sitting down hard across from them. They took up seats on a couple of logs that looked like they had been prepared as benches, and Hagrid sighed. "Was hopin fer a year where ya'll could just 'ave fun tagether..."

"You weren't alone in that wish, Hagrid," Harry said.

"We'd all like a quiet year by now," Hermione added. "But it's not up to us yet."

"Yeah... I know..." Hagrid said, looking behind him. They followed his gaze and found Rozan lying in the pumpkin patch, where the snow still hadn't touched. As though noticing their glances, Hagrid spoke up again. "Don't know why, but ain't a nip a cold o'er there this year. Like its stuck in summer fore'er there."

Harry suddenly had a flash as he remembered seeing Ron and Luna curled up together in that patch not that long ago... or maybe it was a long time ago now. He wasn't sure. "I know," Harry replied, though he doubted such a thing was really necessary.

"Hagrid... How's your brother doing?" Hermione asked tentatively after a moment. She was a bit scared that he might suggest going to visit him, but was hoping he had better sense than that.

"Oh, Grawpy's doing great," Hagrid said, cheering up suddenly. "He had a blast with that Malfoy, he did," Hagrid added.

"I had forgotten all about that!" Harry admitted, looking to Hermione quickly and then back to Hagrid again. "How'd that go?"

"Well, ya both know how much of a coward that Malfoy is, right?" Hagrid asked, though it was obvious he wasn't really asking at all. "Anyways, he didn't wanna come inta tha forest wit me, but I reminded 'im that he didn't hava choice, so we went in. When he saw old Grawpy... he fainted dead away!"

"Malfoy?" Harry asked, surprised. "Fainted dead away?"

"Yup," Hagrid said with a chuckle. "Then Grawpy... well, he picked up Malfoy by an ankle and held him up to his nose, like he wuz tryin ta figure out what he was - see, there's been oders who came down fer detention this year who I brought out ta meet him, and they were all good and friendly like. So when Malfoy..."

"I wish I could have seen that," Harry sighed, looking to Hermione, who appeared to be struggling at concealing a grin of her own. "Oh, come on now, 'Mione. You said that if I hadn't cursed him, you'd've slapped him again, right? You can't tell me you feel bad for him!"

"I don't," she finally admitted, breaking into a grin of her own. "Serves him right!"

"You, 'Ermione?" Hagrid said in amusement. "You'da slapped 'im? Wait, 'old on... whada ya mean, again?"

"Oh, well," Harry started, but Hermione cut him off quickly with a glare. He let out a little eep of his own this time and decided it best to let her tell the story.

"It was during Beaky's trial," she explained quickly. "He was being such a... well, he was being himself, I guess, and said something about how you'd probably snuff it yourself after the hippogryff was executed," she said. "He also called you lazy, I think, or something... I can't remember exactly, but he was gloating about how his accident was hurting you, and I couldn't stand it, so..."

When she died down, Hagrid looked to Harry, and he grinned as he brought his two hands together in a loud clap, finishing the tale. To both Harry and Hermione's surprise, Hagrid let out a loud guffaw, and doubled over in more, quieter laughter. Once he finally looked up, there were tears running down his cheeks again, though this time the tears were those of laughter.

"I wish I'da seen that," Hagrid managed. "Woulda almost made up fer tha near heart attack the bugger gave me with Beaky..."

"He misses you, by the way," Harry said after a moment. "Buckbeak. He asked me to say hi, and that you're always welcome to come by to spend a bit of time with him."

"Beaky said that?" Hagrid asked in surprise, looking to Harry. A broad grin passed over the half giant's face, and he nodded. "I'll come by as soon as I can over tha summer ta speak wit him. Sooner, if we meet again, fer tha... well, ya both know what I mean, right?"

"Yes, Hagrid," Hermione said quickly to keep him from saying anything else in the open like they were. "Don't worry. So what happened with Malfoy after your brother picked him up?"

Hagrid, still smiling thankfully, nodded. "Right, right, well he didn't wake up while we wuz out there, given me time ta play a game er two with Grawpy... he ain't bad at wizard's chess, actually. Musta played back... well, back where he came from, ya know?"

"Ron'll have to play him sometime, then," Harry said automatically before catching himself. Hagrid's smile vanished in an instant, as did Hermione's, and he felt the weariness of the day and everything that was going on catching up to him quickly.

"Any chance we could have a bit of a lie down here?" Hermione asked Hagrid, standing slowly and stretching. "We're both pretty knackered."

"I don't know if I've got room in my hut er not," Hagrid admitted, standing up to his massive height and looked towards it. "Unless ya don't mind sharing my sitting chair," he added. "Dumbledore got it fer me this summer... great man, Dumbledore... the chair's nice and comfortable, padded... he's been given me lessons, books too. Just to train me in magic again..." He then stopped suddenly. "Er... I shouldn'a told ya that..."

"It's alright, Hagrid," Harry reassured him. "We aren't going to tell anyone. But actually, we were thinking of sleeping outside, down by Rozan," he added after glancing to Hermione. "We've got something to show you anyway, if you don't mind..."

"Yer animagi forms?" Hagrid asked with a grin. "I wuz told bout em, but I ain't seen em yet. Sure, I can even keep watch o'er ya as ya sleep, sound good?"

They both nodded, and Harry looked to Hermione carefully. Without words, they both changed in an instant and at the same time, and both sneezed at almost the same time at Hagrid's exclamation at seeing it happen, and seeing them as animals.

Once Harry had had a short talk with Hagrid about lyras - at least, as he understood them, being part one himself, now - he padded over to a patch of sunlight in the warm summer area and curled up in the green grass beneath him. Hermione joined him, nuzzling in just beneath his front legs, so he was protecting her from all sides, much like a mother cat might curl around a kitten. They had actually slept like that in their bed before, too, as another method of getting used to their forms, so it wasn't anything new to either of them.

To Hagrid, however... he went inside quickly to get a dry handkerchief before sitting down next to his hut to watch over the two students as they slept away the afternoon. He didn't even question the small nightingale that landed on Harry's shoulder, nor the large bear dog that laid down a few feet away from them to sleep as well.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...

**The Shadows**


	36. The Oaken Shield

Chapter Thirty Six: The Oaken Shield 

#I still think he should have let us bring the cloak with us,# Hermione purred to Harry as they crept along the empty nighttime corridors back to Gryffindor tower. #If we get caught by Filch or anyone else, then we'll be in so much trouble! We could be expelled for this, you know?#

#Relax,# Harry purred into her ear as he darted across a set of stairs into another shady alcove. Once settled, he motioned for her to follow, and they both pulled themselves in to avoid being seen by the Fat Friar, who appeared to be out for a late night stroll. #We've done this enough times now not to worry about it.#

#Honestly, don't you think I know that?# she hissed back to him as they started walking silently again. #Still, if we get caught, we won't be able to say what we were doing...#

They had both come from a late night lesson with Talisien, something that had been an almost regular occurrence for the last couple of weeks. Ron and Luna had been missing for almost a month by now, and they had almost no word on their whereabouts yet. It was perhaps only thanks to the fact that Talisien tired them out so effectively that they slept at all now.

#This is part of the training too, Mia,# Harry reminded her gently as he tipped a statue down a flight of stairs. Wordlessly, they both slipped closer to their common room as Filch tore passed them shouting after Peeves, despite the fact that the poltergeist was on the other side of the castle that night... #We won't be able to do Ron and Luna any good if we can't sneak through Hogwarts at least. We'll have to sneak in to save them, too, right?#

#I know,# Hermione admitted, smiling to herself at how casual their stealing through the castle after curfew had become. While part of her was still hating the fact that they were, without question, breaking the rules, the rest of her thrived on the fact that they were learning elven techniques as a counter to it. #What would we say if we were caught?#

#Simple,# Harry said with a grin to her. #We were out for a late night snog, and lost track of the time.# He ducked her swatting at him, and tore off down the corridor to end up in front of the Fat Lady. #Besides, I'm hoping he'll be able to figure out my magics soon... it's driving me crazy now that you actually managed to ask about them,# he added once they were safely inside and upstairs in their bed. Neither bothered changing their clothes first, and would deal with them in the morning instead.

She kissed him lightly on the lips and then snuggled in next to him, resting her head on his chest. #It's important,# she explained. #I've never heard of someone being able to cast spells at random without a wand. I mean, wandless magics are one thing, but they don't usually use incantations or anything like that...#

#Yeah, well, not all of my wandless stuff does either, right?# he pointed out. #I can't cast a simple Protego without my wand yet, but I can summon things to me? And then with Malfoy...# Apparently, the reason Talisien had shown up so suddenly during the Malfoy cursing incident more than a month ago now was because he had felt some strange magics. It ended up that, although his wand was in his hand, Harry hadn't used it at all, and instead had simply shot a burst of energy at Malfoy that blasted him backwards. #Look, like I said before we left, can we talk in the morning?#

#I know, I know...# Hermione said with a grin. #You're tired.#

#Hey, getting an arm broken and healed over and over again in a night is hard on a guy!#

#Yeah, and doing the healing's not much better, though I guess it takes out of both of us anyway,# she admitted. #I love you, Harry.#

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her a little closer to him so he could breath in her scent. #I know, Mione.#

"Isn't morning post usually midway through breakfast?" Dean asked, leaning across the table to grab at a plate of flapjacks.

"Yeah," Harry said with a shrug as he poured a couple of goblets of pumpkin juice, handing one deftly to Hermione before picking up his own. He'd have poured for the others around them, too, but they already had their drinks. "Why?"

"There's a bird flying around in the rafters, and has been ever since I got here," Dean explained, pointing up. "I think he's waiting for someone."

Harry didn't bother looking up as he started to eat, but Hermione did. It was more her gasp that made Harry look up, but all he saw was an ordinary brown owl with an odd yellow ribbon tied to one leg.

"What is it?"

No sooner had Dean asked than the owl started spiralling downwards, stopping right in front of Hermione. Rather than actually settle down on the table, it kept beating its wings slowly to stay at the same level while sticking its leg out for Hermione to take the letter from it.

She took it quickly and the owl took off before she had a chance to say anything. Rather than be surprised by this fact, however, she seemed to actually expect it. She met Harry's curious glance, and nodded subtly to him, at which point he looked to those on the other side of Hermione, and those across the table. Given that they were all DA members, they seemed to get the hint that Hermione wanted a touch of privacy to read the letter, and they all looked away and started talking with others.

#It's from a little beetle,# she purred softly so no one else could hear her. Harry nodded and put an arm around her so he could read the letter at the same time she did.

_Hermione (and in all likelihood Harry, too):_

_Despite my best attempts, I had no choice but to write an article for today's Daily Prophet about the two of you getting together. I wanted to apologise in advance for it, however. If I didn't seem eager to write it, then I probably would have lost my job, and I'm needed at the paper right now for important reasons you are both aware of._

_That said, they are using my article dealing with a lead on the kidnappings as front page material (sorry, the lead didn't go anywhere, I checked first). This means that news of you and Harry are together is second page news - be thankful I managed to convince them to put the kidnapping on the front page. I've kept it as tasteful as I could without raising suspicions, but you will likely hear about it for a while._

_I'm sorry about your friends, and I'm doing all I can from this end to try and find them, as is everyone else you saw the other night._

_Rita Skeeter, Correspondent for the Daily Prophet_

Harry took a deep breath and pulled the witch in his arms a little closer to her as he closed his eyes. "This isn't going to be good, is it?" he asked in a whisper.

"It could be worse," she admitted, though she was shaking just a little too. "At least it's not front page this time..." She then looked at him carefully. "We're going to have to read the front page first anyway."

"Even a false lead might shed some light on things," he pointed out as he released her and turned back to his food. The breakfast that had seemed like such a good idea earlier now held no interest for him at all, and he found himself wishing for the post owls to get a move on. Beside him, Hermione didn't seem to be eating much either.

A few minutes later brought everyone back to normal conversations again. Dean, Ginny, and Lavender all noticed the subdued responses from Harry and Hermione, and did their beset to hide that fact from everyone else, despite not knowing what was going on.

When the post finally arrived, Harry caught Dean's copy of the Prophet as Hermione took her own. Rather than read it, however, he tossed it over to Ginny. "You'll want to read that front page," he offered quietly. He then looked back to Dean. "You can get it back when she's done, but she'll need to see that now."

Although part of him was pleased by the fact that no one in the DA would argue with any request he made these days, most of him was actually a bit upset by that. If they wouldn't question him, how were they supposed to be able to lead themselves if and when the time came? It was an issue he'd have to take up at the next DA meeting, along with a few other things that had been on his mind lately.

For her part, Hermione read the front page out loud.

_**Two Hogwarts Students Still Missing**_

_by special Correspondent for the Daily Prophet, Rita Skeeter_

_After receiving a tip late yesterday evening about a possible location for the hiding place of Ronald Weasley (sixth year Gryffindor Prefect and youngest son of Ministry Employee Arthur Weasley) and Luna Lovegood (fifth year Ravenclaw student and only daughter of the owner of the Quibbler), a team of Aurors were immediately set out under the instruction of lead Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt._

_Some were skeptical putting Shacklebolt in charge of the Aurors during Amelia Bones's absence as she fills in as interm Ministress of Magic, but his decisive decisions and quick thinking are things of legend amongst many of the other Aurors, likening him to the level of Alastor Moody before his paranoia sent him over the edge._

_The tip ended up being more of a trap, leading the group of six Aurors into the middle of some sort of training grounds for apparent Death Eaters, or at least for followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It is only thanks to the quick thinking of Shacklebolt and the ingenious use of portkeys used as weapons did they all survive, though one Nymphadora Tonks - female Auror for the past eight years - did sustain a minor injury that sent her to St. Mungo's to have the bones of her left leg regrown._

_When questioned later, Shacklebolt did not appear to have time to offer comments on what went wrong, and how the aurors were led into such a trap._

_For more information on the carriers of the aurors who followed the tip, please see pages 6 through 9. For more information about the kidnapping, please see pages 10 through 12._

Aside from the relatively short write-up, there were several pictures of each of the Aurors who fought. Hermione pointed out Kingsley and Tonks quickly enough, and though one of them looked an awful lot like Lupin, he had slightly darker hair and was named, according to the description under the picture, Rom Fenyir. The others, they didn't recognise at all.

"So, Susan's aunt is intern Ministress?" Harry asked after a moment, carefully skirting the main issues of the publication. "She must be thrilled."

Whatever Hermione's response was, it was lost as Ginny slammed down her... or rather Dean's copy of the Prophet hard on the table, spilling her drink. It was not still opened on the front page, but was several pages in. Harry suspected it was about the kidnapping section.

Without a word, she stood up and stalked out of the Great Hall, all eyes following her exit. As discretely as possible, Harry pushed Colin off the bench to follow her - meaning the younger boy fell on the stone ground first - and he hoped that Colin's presence might help her some.

Despite wanting to know what was said about Hermione and him, he leaned over and took Dean's paper back, skimming through the page that dealt with Ron. It was almost completely text rather than any pictures at all, but he found the part that had upset her easily enough near the end.

_Although Dumbledore and Bones both feel assured that neither victim has been killed yet, one has to wonder just how much luck is granted to any given person. When Ronald's past exploits include being knocked out by a living chess piece, nearly facing off with a giant basilisk, having his leg broken and being nearly torn in two by the escaped murderer Sirius Black, and then surviving a run in with twelve Death Eaters and only five friends (including the impressive Boy-Who-Lived), one has to ask just how much time the youngest male Weasley has before his luck will completely run out..._

"It has been thirty three days since Ron and Luna were taken in Hogsmeade," Harry said resolutely, pacing in the front of the Room of Requirement while the rest of the DA watched him silently, all attention given to him. "That is far too long by my standards, and by yours. We will rescue them both. I promise you all that - Ron and Luna will be brought back safely."

It was the same way he had started most of the meetings since it had happened, except he always changed the amount of time they had been gone. The first few meetings, he had even done it in hours instead of days, but that number was simply too high now, and was doing nothing for morale.

Ever since the battle in Hogsmeade where Harry and Hermione both felt they had done very poorly considering what they had thought they had for training, the DA meetings had changed significantly. Before, they had simply learned the spells, and talked briefly about tactics, but had never discussed actual fighting before. Though four of the members - Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny - had experience in battles before, what they had barely counted either, since they had simply run the whole time and done the best they could with what they had.

Now, the DA was actually quite a bit more dangerous. Every second practice pitted the teams against one another as training. Serious spells were used, from stunners to bludgeoning spells, and more than one rather bad injury had resulted from the duels thus far.

This meant that the healers on each team were put to the test as well - though the more serious injuries caused by one of Harry's bludgeoning spells (as no one else had been able to pull it off) could only be healed by either Hermione or going to Madame Pomfrey. It was the same spell he had struck Malfoy with in his duel before Christmas, and was now strong enough to break through an entire fireplace - meaning the damage to a human body was such that it practically turned bones to dust. It was for this reason that Harry only ever used it on arms and legs, and then only rarely anyway.

The other meetings were spent learning new spells and practicing old ones - Cho, Dean, Ginny, and Terry all seemed determined to be able to pull off Harry's _Kotes_ bludgeoning spell, but that was really the only spell anyone had trouble with by this stage.

This day was not a normal day within the DA, though. Harry spoke to the white, green, and black team, and asked them to put their heads together for ways to sneak passed an enemy - as in the actual rescue. He had taught them all he could think of for spells, and while they still needed practice, it was time to start thinking more seriously.

The blue team, however... he hadn't spoken with them about the troubles of the DA just yet. He had exchanged words with both Denis and Padma the same day he had spoken with the others, and they had had eerily similar responses to those of their siblings. Harry couldn't fault them for their desires, and so said nothing further to them.

The fact that no one on the blue team knew why he had singled them out told him that no one had spoken about it to anyone, which was just as he had asked. He couldn't really say if that was the way he wanted it or not... if they had spoken about it, it meant that they were still able to think for themselves, but they would also have disobeyed a direct request that was a serious notion.

He'd deal with that question later.

"So, what's up, Harry?" Neville asked as he took the four of them over to the far side of the room. The Room of Requirement had been set up as a large meeting hall this time, complete with several different large round tables and dozens of chairs - far beyond any numbers that they could imagine.

"I need to talk to each of you," Harry admitted, turning back to them gravely. "And I'll offer you the same choice I did the others - would you rather we do this in front of everyone else, or individually?"

"Just what it is you're going to do?" Neville pressed before anyone could offer an answer to his question.

Harry sighed and sat down at the closest table, kicking his feet up onto another chair and looking at the four of them levelly. "Convince each of you to leave the DA forever."

It was only with quick reflexes and a silent praise for his odd wandless magics ability - that often was more trouble than they were worth - that kept the four from shouting loud obscenities at him as he cast a silencing charm on them all quickly.

"I mean it," he explained. "I've already spoken to everyone else."

"Then why are they all still here?" Terry asked. Harry looked to him in surprise, and the Ravenclaw motioned to Julia, who had her wand out and trained on him. "She released me from the charm."

"Without speaking herself?" Harry asked in surprise - the counter curse to the silencing charm usually needed an incantation, which was one of the only reasons it was an effective spell. The fact that she had found a way to break it without words was a blessing beyond most others. "Nicely done," he added when they both nodded. "And yes, they are still here. That's because they each gave me valid reasons for them to stay. Every one of them has a reason for being here that I have no right to argue against."

"And you think we don't?"

"I think I have to know what it is before we go any further." With a simple wave of his hand and a soft mutter, the silencing charm was released so they could each talk. "So, together, or individually?"

"We're a team," Neville said almost at once. "So we'll face you together." Harry nodded, but said nothing in response, which caused Neville to falter momentarily before going on. "Uh... right. You know my reason, Harry."

"Revenge for your parents - or even trying to make them proud - isn't a reason," Harry said flatly.

"I'm not!" Neville said in a louder voice than he intended, though no one from the other groups looked over to them. "I'm not," he repeated softer, looking right at Harry. "I'm a part of this group so they can't do what they did to my family to anyone else's."

Harry didn't reply right away, but when Neville opened his mouth to say something else, he cut him off with a curt nod, which Neville returned stoically.

The other three looked to each other, and then Lavender spoke up. "Any idea why I joined the group in the first place, Harry?"

"You didn't want to fail?" Harry suggested sarcastically. It was the reason she had provided at the time, and she was obviously startled at being called on it, but recovered easily enough.

"That's right," she replied simply. "I didn't want to fail. I didn't want to fail my family or my friends, muggle or magic folk alike," she explained. "And sitting back and not doing anything to try and stop... well, to try and stop Voldemort..." She looked a little sickly at saying the name, but pressed on anyway. "That would be failing them. Why should other's put their lives on the line when I'm perfectly capable of trying to make sure they don't have to?"

Although Harry didn't reply at all to her remark, she knew that he accepted her answer anyway and smiled softly before looking to both Terry and Julia.

"Right," Terry said after a minute. "Why are you willing to go off on this rescue, Harry?"

"My reasons are my own."

"Well, if you want to hear everyone else's reasons, why shouldn't we be able to hear yours?" the sixth year Ravenclaw asked.

"Which reason do you want?" Harry asked sarcastically. "The reason I'm telling everyone else, the reason everyone assumes, or the real thing?"

Terry exchanged a glance with the other three in his group, and together they all looked to Harry. "I think I'd like the real reason, but I doubt that's going to happen, right?"

"He's not going to give that," Neville said with a shrug, catching Harry's eye. He knew the real reason... the entire purpose for going to rescue Ron and Luna, for Harry, was simply because of Voldemort. If they ran into him, then only Harry had a chance of survival - anyone else would be killed instantly, and Harry didn't want to have to live with that on his conscience.

"They are my family," Harry said softly. "Ron has been a brother to me from the start, since first year. I'm not about to leave my brother stranded in the hands of Voldemort!" His voice had raised, and now everyone in the room was actually watching him, too. "And Luna... she's been like a sister to me since last year. She helped me get passed a terrible death, and brings me the peace that only a sister can. I'm not about to let her get killed either!" To everyone's surprise, he suddenly laughed shortly, though it was a hollow one. "Or maybe it would be easier to just blame my need to rescue them on my 'saving-people' thing..."

"Let's just say that we're along to watch your back, then," Terry suggested, motioning to Julia and himself. "And leave it at that. You aren't the only one with a saving-people thing, after all. And someone's got to help protect you when you decide it's time."

"We'll support you and your cause," Julia said firmly. "Because, after all this time of hearing about what you and your friends have done over the years, we both think that your cause can't be done alone. So we're helping."

Harry remained silent for a moment, though he did nod, albeit slowly. After a few seconds, he realised that everyone in the room had gone quiet, and he looked back to them just as Kailyn cursed and threw something away from herself.

The overpowering smell of tree sap followed a disgusting splatter against the far wall of the room. Looking over, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny all looked to each other before looking back to Kailyn.

"Uh... that's what I was talking about," Kailyn said softly, as though a bit embarrassed by what had happened. "I set it to go off before Harry shouted, and when we all went silent, I almost forgot about it. I'm just glad I managed to throw it aside first, that's all!"

"What you were talking about?" Harry asked curiously as he made his way over to the large group sitting at a round table. He pulled up the empty chair next to Hermione as the blue team filled out the rest of the spaces.

"It's meant as a prank back home," she explained. "My grandmother is a genius with them, not that she'd admit to it." Harry immediately thought of an incident in Diagon Alley near the beginning of the year, but said nothing. "But it's also used by some of our waywatchers when they get stuck in bad situations. The counter to it is a little complex if you aren't used to it, and a simple Scourgify will make it harden to stone."

"So it's just a little ball, then?" Terry asked. Kailyn set a dark green stone down on the table and rolled it down towards Terry. It was quite remarkable to watch it curve along the edge of the table, and then come to a stop before the Ravenclaw student. He picked it up and frowned. "It looks like stone, but feels like jelly."

"We could also use them as a distraction, couldn't we?" Padma suggested. "I mean, if we could figure out a way to get it in front of a few Death Eaters without them spotting it, and then Scourgify it, they'd be stuck, right?"

"Getting it in front of them without noticing is the hard part," Ginny pointed out. "Believe me, with brothers like mine, I know all about sneaking something around. There's always a large chance that they'll notice it just before you're ready to use it."

"Fred and George were experts at it, weren't they?" Cho asked. "I mean, they could pull a prank on anyone - and did more than once!"

"Bitter, are we?" Dean asked with a grin.

"No!" she snapped back. "I mean... well, they did... never mind!"

Dean put a hand on top of hers on the table and gave it a little squeeze. "Sorry," he whispered. "Didn't mean to upset you. Besides, like you said, they could get anybody, and did, remember?"

"They taught me," Harry said softly, looking at the table as he released Hermione's hand that he had been holding. "And I used it to get Snape on Halloween."

"Don't tell us," Hermione said quickly, cutting him off. "They made you swear on your parents' graves not to tell anyone how to pull it off, remember?"

Harry nodded and closed his eyes. "I know they did. But this is more important than... more important than that. I never knew my parents, but I do know Ron and Luna. And I'm not going to let something like that keep me from helping them!" he added, a fire burning in the back of his eyes. "I'm not going to let them down!"

"Why don't you just write it down?" Julia asked in the profound silence that met his words. When all eyes turned to her, she shrugged. "Why not? I mean, you promised not to tell, right? But if you write it down, and we happen to read it, you didn't tell us, now did you?"

"Hmm," Harry said softly. "I may have to leave a bit of parchment in my potion's book... provided someone needs to borrow it for a while..."

"I just remembered," Ginny said with a grin on her face. "I need an advanced Potion's book for an essay Snape's got us working on... any chance I could borrow yours, Harry?"

By the next DA practice, they all understood just how easily Harry had pulled off the prank - though it had taken a lot of courage. Few would dare attempt such a thing in the Great Hall, given the penalties for using magics within. In the end, he had cast a mild confunding charm on Snape from his place at the table, and then levitated the potion into place in his drink.

The real difficulty was casting both spells in quick succession while looking like he hadn't been doing anything at all that was out of the ordinary. Thinking back, Hermione realised that he had been eating with his left hand, and kept his right hand hidden, but hadn't thought anything of it at the time.

That practice also brought about the third change to the teams, as well as an overhaul at just how they were looked at. Denis was moved to Neville's blue group - taking the place where Luna had been, despite not being as well versed in counter curses - while Padma joined the red group, now under Ginny's leadership, as a second charms person, leaving them without a counter curse member as well.

Harry and Hermione's group now consisted solely of the two of them.

They also abandoned calling the teams by colour, and opted instead to use Kailyn's suggestion at naming them after famous armies of battles' past. Acting on her suggestion, Ginny called the green team the Oaken Shield, after Talisien's old unit from centuries ago. Neville took his name after Terry's suggestion, calling the blue team the Garamonde Brigade, after a powerful set of wizards who stormed a dark wizard's keep in 1003 AD. Dean's approach was a little different, calling the black team the Dark Warriors - but he was clear that that didn't mean dark wizards, as the group in the past who used the name were actually stealth wizards, who snuck in, did their task, and got out without ever being seen.

Going against the grain of the other three groups - in other words, not naming the white team now consisting of himself and Hermione after a group from the past - Harry looked straight into Ginny's eyes, then Neville's, before turning to Hermione and declaring them Destiny's Force.

The rest of the practice was more or less a blur, as the teams were pit against each other in duels without any alliances between the four. Although Harry and Hermione did come out on top, it was really only thanks to the Dark Warriors attacking the Garamonde brigade first, rather than all three teaming up on them.

It was as they were closing the practice to get ready to slip back to common rooms that Terry and Julia both approached Harry, looking a little worried about something. "What's the matter?" he asked simply as they stopped before him but didn't really say much.

Terry nudged Julia, who smiled nervously before speaking. "Look, I know Hermione's really good with charms and all, but we were thinking about things, and I came across something that might help..."

"Something wrong?" Hermione asked, joining the three after making sure everyone else was on their way back to their common rooms already. Her presence seemed to deflate Julia more, at which point Harry stood up quickly.

"Am I omnipotent?" he asked in a calm, steady voice - or, so he'd like to have done, anyway. In fact, it had cracked halfway through with the emotions that had suddenly bubbled forth.

"What?"

"Am I all powerful?" he repeated, looking at all three of them. "Do I possess all the knowledge and all the skills of the universe suddenly? Please tell me I don't, because I don't think I could handle how little there is out there to understand..."

Hermione and Julia both grinned at the joke, but Terry was quickly shaking his head. "We never said that, but..."

Harry cut him off this time. "Just because I'm leading the DA doesn't mean I'm perfect. Hermione might be the smartest witch to grace Hogwarts in decades, but that doesn't mean she knows everything, either," he added, putting an arm around her to bring her a bit closer to him. "If you've got an idea, or don't agree with something I've said... tell me, alright?"

"It's a secondary charm that fell out of use in the fourteenth century," Julia said quickly, though she still looked a touch uncertain. "It goes with the Protean Charm, and is used as a finder of sorts..."

"This isn't the Crotan Charm, is it?" Hermione interrupted suddenly. "The one that King Henry the IX banned from use, as several of his advisors had taken to following him around using it?"

"That's the one," Julia said with a smile. "You really have read the whole library, haven't you?"

"Almost," Hermione replied. "But that means I don't remember everything all the time... we were looking for something like that before, but I couldn't come up with anything, and haven't taken the time to start looking, either. That's great!"

"It is?" Harry asked, confused and more than a little lost in the conversation thus far. "What is it?"

"Honestly, weren't you listening?" Hermione asked in surprise. "Julia's found a way we can enchant something... say, our galleons or even our badges, and then be able to cast a simple spell to find each other. It's what Talisien was talking about before!"

"How's it work?"

Apparently, and Harry must have missed it somehow, but Hermione suggested for Julia to explain it to them. Terry must have understood it before, because he didn't ask any questions about it. "It's like a modified Point Me spell - you touch the enchanted object, and say point me, and it'll direct you to whatever partner item you are thinking of - works great for multiples because of that. Also, anyone can activate their piece to let out a signal to the others - heat, a sound, a pulling sensation - to warn about danger."

"How long would this take?"

"If you gathered everyone again tonight, it could be ready for tomorrow," Julia promised. "Provided you and Hermione help me, anyway. I don't have the magical power that you two have - I mean, you pulled off casting the Protean Charm last year," she said, nodding to Hermione. "And you... well, you're you, so..." Harry nodded even though he wasn't pleased with that reasoning.

He then reached into his cloak and pulled out the leading gold galleon. Holding it in his hand, he concentrated, the felt the coin heat up. "Everyone should be on their way back shortly." It was then that he noticed Terry looking at him oddly, and he asked what was wrong.

"I thought you were supposed to use your wand to activate the coins, or at least the Protean Charm, right? How'd you do it that way?"

Harry flipped the golden coin in the air and caught it on the way down, slipping it into a pocket again. "I've never really believed that strongly in following all the rules," he explained with a shrug and a grin, to which Terry could only reply with a shake of his own head.

As everyone filed into the Great Hall for dinner a couple of days later, many of the students slowed down to look around in surprise. Rather than the normal arrangement of four long tables for the houses and one head table for the professors, the tables had been arranged to all be connected to one another in a pentagon, with a massive amount of free space in the middle.

Banners for the different houses were flying over the top of four of the tables, telling the students which table was where, and where they were all encouraged to sit. Despite this fact, the entire DA sat together at the corner of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, branching onto both tables, regardless of their house. Seeing this act of apparent defiance, many of the younger students who really didn't know Harry - or any of the DA for that matter - sat together as well, again regardless of house. The only table that sat together collectively was the Slytherin table - even the head table had a couple of students sitting there, and a few teachers were scattered throughout the other tables.

That said, however, the younger Slytherin students didn't just ignore their Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw neighbours, and sat whispering, as though trying to figure out just what was going on. Once the plates and other dishes had appeared on the tables, Dumbledore stood up slowly from his place in the middle of the Hufflepuff table, seated next to a first year on either side.

"As you are all surely aware by now, this is a new seating arrangement. It is not permanent, and as of tomorrow morning, the tables will be back where they all belong. That said, I will not insist on sitting together as houses necessarily except at feasts," he said calmly, looking around the uniquely designed tables.

"Why would you bother changing it like this?" a third year Ravenclaw student sitting at the Gryffindor table asked quietly. "This hasn't ever been done before, has it?"

"Very good, young Herdan," Dumbledore said with an indulgent smile. "However, one must never be afraid of changes - it is what keeps us all alive and willing to get out of bed in the morning." He chuckled to himself as though sharing a private joke before calming again to look out to everyone. "Tonight, however, we have a touch of a treat while we dine. After he heard that the sorting hat failed to provide us with a song at the beginning of the year, one of our professors has taken it upon himself to provide us with one with the help of a couple of others."

With a suddenness that actually caused a few people to fall out of their seats, Talisien appeared in the middle of the ring of tables on a small stool. He was holding a small lap harp called a lyre that shimmered silver in the odd candlelight that was bathing the hall. On his shoulder sat a small being dressed in white that a few people recognised as Ariasal. She was sitting calmly, swinging her legs as though bored. When Talisien cleared his throat, however, she leapt to her feet and stood up tall - well, as tall as a seven inch fairy could stand, really.

A rich melody echoed through the hall as Talisien played his fingers across the strings of the harp. He wasn't wearing his gloves to play, giving the music a distinctly more real feeling to it. Unlike the usual upbeat songs that they were often treated with during the Sorting Feast, however, this song was set in a minor key, and was dripping with darkness, fear, and sorrow.

"Dasirev, raif cayode." Talisien's words were not in a language any of them could recognise, but they sounded equally as passion filled as the notes that accompanied them. "Rei elda iditue rufa, Yolota, kiante rufa."

As Talisien sang, though, Ariasal spread her wings and opened her mouth to join her voice to his. Rather than give words, a sweet, haunting harmony started to weave through the melody of the music, binding it tightly to the hearts of those listening to the words.

"Listen well, wayward travellers." As one, every head in the the hall turned to the outside of the tables to another voice, this one a soft female one that they could understand. A tall woman with golden hair dressed in a flowing green dress was walking slowly around the tables, circling them as she sang with Talisien. Some of them recognised her as Fey, the one introduced during the November Ball as Queen of Noyadin. "To a story as old as time, Transcending time, defying time..."

"Elda rashibrec, mecu reshiec," Talisien's words cut in again, and many of the students simply closed their eyes - even if they had other intentions - to be better able to simply listen to the music. "Riq tega ye thralodur."

Once the sound from the lyre started to repeat itself again, Fey finally gave voice to the translation again. "A story of light, a tale of dark, And of those who overcome it." The music from the lyre raised in intensity, and Ariasal's sweet voice dropped in pitch, sending shivers down several spines at the cold they felt from the music. "Beyond where hidden shadows lie, Within all those born to die, Connecting the ages, the races, the life-lines... All those living can effect the change. The change from dark times, to those of light."

Fey had circled around the tables three times during her last bout of singing, and those still with their eyes opened turned to Talisien in wait, wanting to hear his voice adding to the song again. Again, the music seemed to repeat itself before he added his own words. "Koces yaha jathanir roken verisi, Aroted itega drakoth retaux." He lowered his head so his chin was practically touching the top of his silver lyre, and suddenly his hood was pulled back to allow everyone to see him again. "Gholi tilioneh, tenok, taip taux-nahe. Itega protegan tho prong tifoqor. Tifoqor atani shiec lip retrega shibrec."

The music, while eerily haunting in its minor chords, had not been grating at all, but suddenly everything changed. What had been haunting was now fierce, loud, almost angry. Sound that should have been impossible to obtain from a small stringed lyre actually scared a few people. "Shakito!" Talisien cried in a loud voice, barely singing the word, more shouting it. "Vaey iha dast. Shakito!" The same word, shouted again. "Shiecilin frondes. Shakito! Suka wisuka iwer tuvo. Shakito! Shibrec thower hiltrane." Everyone was already cringing before he said the word the last time. "Shakito! Rufa ard wristel aved..."

The fierce, terrifying music slowed slightly for a moment before regaining it's pitch. Ariasal looked more like a tiny daemon now than a fairy, but few could focus on her despite that fact, given the music that was surrounding them again. "Divided!" Fey's voice, while not shouting the word, was equally as piercing, making many of the students and teachers cringe with the first time it was said. "People are weak. Divided!" More cringes, but she ignored them just as deftly as Talisien had. "The darkness prevails. Divided! Enemies of enemies are not allies. Divided! Light cannot stand. Divided! Time will shatter!"

On her last word, the music suddenly grew quiet, and then raised slowly and surely in volume. This time, however, the fierce, angry music was gone, replaced with a soft, soothing sound that many equated with summers at home outside without worries. Compared to what had just been echoing through the Great Hall, it was simply heavenly.

"Kitoent," Talisien's voice was barely a whisper now. "Dast liphan doxer teaw leyli."

"United," Fey's voice cut in rather early this time. "Weak become stronger than imagination."

"Kitoent. Shiecilin thower ikutra etoshibrec."

"United. Darkness cannot stand before the light."

Harry, sitting at the corner of the Gryffindor table next to the Ravenclaws, started when he felt a pressure on his hand. Turning, he found Hermione leaning closer to him. "Did you hear that?" she whispered in English, surprising him. Usually, if she didn't want anyone to overhear what they were saying, she'd simply speak in kneazle, which told him right away that she expected a couple of people to hear them. "The elves believe in uniting, too!"

"United we stand, divided we fall," a boy from the Ravenclaw table said, though Harry couldn't pick out just which one.

"So, in other words, we have to work with all the houses, not just our own!"

"Try telling that to the Slytherins, 'Mione," Harry whispered back. "The rest of us are working together," he added, closing his eyes again to get lost in the music once more. He felt Hermione give his hand another squeeze, but she didn't let go this time.

"Kitoent." This time, Talisien's voice was a little louder, but still quite soft and soothing at the same time. "Dil tuvo iha drakoth, deritan rema. Kitoent. Shibrec terdia donuluthro. Kitoent. Rufa cassataux."

As one, almost every eye in the room turned to follow Fey as she made her way around the outside of the circle. To say she was walking wouldn't be quite right, but neither was she dancing. It was almost a mix between the two. "United," she started, her voice soft and melodious. Of the two, it was obvious who had more talent for singing. "New allies are born, truces accepted." Ariasal's harmony suddenly changed slightly, growing in intensity as she spread her wings, but Fey didn't seem to pay it any heed. "United. Light surpasses destiny. United. Time is everlasting."

As Fey's sweet voice died down this time, Harry suddenly found himself lost completely. Although he could still hear the music, he could no longer make out any of the words, nor could he see anyone around him, despite feeling Hermione's hand in his own still.

Instead, a variety of images was suddenly bombarding his senses, surrounding him in a suddenness that left him wanting to breath, but unable to do so. He saw a war, terrible fighting, and horrific deaths engulfing the space all around him, yet nothing came close to him at all.

A body collapsed in front of him, having been hacked and slashed until unable to counter with an attack of its own. It wasn't quite a human - more like a lizard, actually - but was humanoid, at the very least. Black blood was oozing from the wounds, causing a disgusting bile to build in the back of Harry's throat, despite the fact that he was mesmerized by what was going on directly in front of him.

A younger Talisien, clad in a dark green cloak as Harry was used to, but was otherwise almost entirely different. It must have been at least a millennia ago, which was when he suddenly came to the thought that perhaps he was seeing memories of something important.

He watched in horror as the elf before him performed his deadly arts on the battlefield, tearing through enemies like they were made of paper. What he noticed even beyond that, however, were those standing with him. To one side stood a woman he recognised as Fey, despite the time difference. She didn't have a sword in hand - rather, she held a bow and was firing arrows that seemed alive with fire at anything that got too close to them.

To his other side was the odd woman he had met with Hermione at the end of the previous term - Ali. However, she looked exactly like she did a couple of months ago in the memory, telling Harry that there was a lot more to her than he had imagined.

There were three others with him, but he didn't have a chance to make them out before something seemed to strike him hard in the back of the head, causing him to curse out loud and grab at his head, closing his eyes as he did so.

After a moment, he was aware of a complete lack of sound around him. No longer was he hearing the minor keyed music, or the singing of his professor, Fey, or Ariasal. He wasn't hearing anything remotely like a battle, either. Slowly, he opened his eyes to find Hermione leaning over him, and he tried to sit up quickly.

"Easy now," Madame Pomfrey's voice came into focus, followed shortly thereafter by the healer herself. "You gave yourself a nasty bump on the back of the head there, Mr. Potter. Not to mention giving Miss. Granger here quite the fright, too."

Harry looked back to Hermione quickly, but found her to be asleep, telling him that he must have been out of it for a lot longer than he had thought earlier. "What happened?" he asked in a hushed voice, not wanting to wake her. She looked quite peaceful, even if she was a bit worried - or even more than a bit, he guessed...

"I was hoping you'd tell me," the Healer replied with an indulgent smile, pulling up a chair herself. "Of course, this is one of the only times I've had the chance to sit next to you and talk - usually, others insist on staying here, despite my best recommendations..."

"Thanks for letting Hermione stay," he whispered softly, looking away from her kindly gaze, feeling a bit guilty suddenly at the way he had treated her in the past.

"No thanks are necessary," she said, brushing him off easily enough. "I may require an apology in writing later on, but I'll probably just forget about it," she added, a small smile playing at her lips. It was the only clue Harry had that she was having him on, and he decided to play along.

"Would you require it in triplicate, signed by Dumbledore, myself, Ministress Bones, and You-Know-Who?" he asked, gingerly saying the term rather than Voldemort out of consideration for the Healer.

"Two of the four would be plenty," she assured him, her grin becoming a full smile now. "But we digress. Any idea what happened to you? As I understand it, Professor Talisien was singing something about what a hero needs - I think he said a sharp mind, strong loyalty, and immense power, by the way - and you just collapsed, just like that!" She then paused for a moment, as though considering him. "Miss. Granger assured me that it was not an attack through your scar, and several other well-wishers seemed to have said the same thing."

"It wasn't," Harry said quickly, and she seemed to deflate as most of her worries left her instantly. "It was... odd, though," he admitted. "Like I was seeing someone else's memories from ages past, and then something hit me, and I was out, just like that!" he explained, waving a hand towards the candles on the far side of the room, extinguishing them instantly.

The candles came on again with a wave of Madame Pomfrey's wand, and she looked back to him. "Different memories? That is a bit strange... are you certain the music didn't have magic in it?"

Harry grinned as Dumbledore's words from his first year bubbled forth from his mouth. "Music... magics above all else we can do here," he repeated - closely, anyway, given that he doubted he could look at magics as a single entity any longer. "It could have, but why would I be the only one affected?" The thought then hit him that perhaps there was a very good reason - a reason currently resting on his night stand with both his wands as well as Hermione's, which she must have put there before falling asleep. He didn't voice his thoughts, however, as he didn't want to tell everyone just why the dagger was so important.

If it was stealing memories again, though, he would have to do something about it.

"Things seem to single you out," Madame Pomfrey pointed out with a sigh. "I wish I had a better explanation, but I don't. However, your vital signs appear to be relatively stable by this point in time... would you like to wake Miss Granger and return to your own beds, or are you happier here?"

"I wouldn't mind talking to you a bit more," Harry admitted after a moment. "And, if it's not too much trouble, could we both stay here tonight? I'd rather not wake her and then ask her to fall asleep again almost right away."

"You'd like to stay? To talk with me?" She seemed completely flabbergasted by the mere notion of it, but before Harry could take it back in fear that he had insulted her, she smiled warmly to him. "Of course you may stay, Harry," she said softly, almost like she was seeking permission to call him by his given name rather than his family name.

"Then I will... Poppy," Harry dared. When she didn't comment on it, he found he didn't mind being on a first name basis with the school Healer - even if it was partially because of his frequent visiting schedule... "Any chance you could tell me a bit more about that song after the united verses?"

She nodded to him and then closed her eyes as though remembering it in great detail. "That was about the midway point, I think," she said softly. "Even if it was during dinner, I doubt anyone had a single bite to eat during the song at all... After that point, they sang about the side of light uniting under a leader - a leader who accepted the role, and in doing so, becomes a hero."

"A leader willing to lead is a hero?" Harry asked in amazement. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"I think they meant that someone willing to stand up for what is right - the light they kept mentioning - is a hero, not just anyone leading anyone else."

"Standing up to the darkness..."

"Then he sang about what a hero needs to survive - like I said before, mind, loyalty, and power - and mentioned that a hero never survived alone. Just when they were starting to touch on the one force to stop all darkness, your episode caused him to stop out of concern."

He couldn't help but curse to himself, though he didn't speak the words out loud. It sounded like Talisien was telling him about the power he needed, the so-called 'Power he knows not...' but it was cut off by whatever had happened to him. He found his eyes travelling down to Hermione's sleeping face, and he smiled softly despite himself. "I never really thanked you for all your help this year... I know I've sent more than a couple of people this way for fixing up," he said softly.

"Indeed you have!" Madame Pomfrey said sharply. "But they wouldn't be learning otherwise. Besides, several of your students have been coming to me to learn how to Heal, as well, which makes it worthwhile. I just ask you to avoid serious injury in the future, if you would be so kind."

"I'll do what I can," he said with a nod, lying back down against the bed, brushing a few stray strands of Hermione's hair away from his face - they had ended up there as he laid down next to her again. "What do you think the song meant?"

"Meant?" she asked. "Songs don't always have meaning, you know. It was a hauntingly beautiful melody that touched the hearts of many of the students and staff. What makes you think it meant anything beyond that?"

"Talisien rarely seems to do anything without a meaning behind it."

The Healer looked confused for a moment before standing and patting the headboard. "The song was about unity, so perhaps he's telling us the same thing that the Sorting Hat did," she suggested before looking to the metal frame directly. "I've asked the Headmaster for permission, by the way."

"For what?"

"To engrave your name in gold on the headboard... you've needed this bed and my services more than any other student for decades. I believe your father and his friends were the last to run me quite so ragged." She smiled and made to leave the room before looking back. "I didn't let your father keep your mother in the same bed in the hospital wing, but then, she didn't encourage his healing as quickly as she seems to do for you. And quite frankly, anything to help you heal faster is probably a good thing."

"Good night, Madame Pomfrey," he whispered as she left. Not getting a reply told him that she probably didn't hear, but that didn't really bother him as he felt his consciousness slipping away again.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...**  
The Shadows**


	37. Gryffindor Versus Slytherin

Chapter Thirty Seven: Gryffindor versus Slytherin 

As Harry and Hermione made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning, they were somewhat surprised to find several members of the DA waiting for them in various places along the way - almost as though they were guarding the route. Few said more than a simple good morning, and a couple actually asked how Harry was doing now, but beyond that, there was a touch of an eerie calm in the castle.

That ended almost as soon as they stepped into the Great Hall to tumultuous applause from the Slytherin table - much to their surprise. Looking around for an explanation told them that there was only one teacher in the Hall thus far in the morning - and given how the Slytherins were behaving, it was no surprise to find that it was Snape.

Wordlessly, Ginny handed a scrap of parchment to Harry, who scanned it quickly with Hermione reading it over his shoulder. The silence in the hall remained indefinite as the two read the Daily Prophet article from the day before on the two of them, and their relationship.

Harry didn't bother to read the full thing, however. He simply read the parts that Ginny seemed to have circled with her quill before giving it to them - _Sneaking around to broom closets_... _Large arguments with their closest friends involving the intimacy of their relationship_... _Now fully supported by their friends, the two can find time to slip away on their own whenever desires become too much for them... _

#I find myself not very hungry anymore,# Harry purred in an undertone to Hermione. Not entirely sure it would work, he then turned to Ginny. #Thanks, Gem,# he chirped out, thinking hard of her nightingale form. When she nodded, he knew she understood.

Hermione, however, hadn't replied to him. Instead, she took the article from him and kept reading, apparently wanting to obtain all the information before leaving as well. #How are we going to handle this?# she purred back to him when she finished, letting the piece of parchment float to the ground.

#Simple. The same way Ron would've - humour,# Harry replied as he turned to leave with her. She smiled and looped her arm through his, and they made their way back to the large double doors. "Well, since it's out in the open, I think it's high time for us to... er... 'slip away on our own...' don't you?"

"Of course!" Hermione said in an equally loud voice. "After all, it's not like missing one dose during breakfast will loosen the potion's effects at all, right?"

That caught Harry by surprise, and he lowered his free hand and pointed as discretely as possible towards the parchment on the ground. "Accio parchment," he whispered as they left the hall. It was in his hands the next moment, and he stopped just out of sight of those in the Great Hall to read it more carefully.

"You didn't see that part, did you?" Hermione asked fretfully. "I mean, honestly I should have expected it, but she said she had toned it down a bit, right?"

"If this is toned down," Harry said in as calm a voice as he could muster. "Then I'd hate to think of what she was going to write before this!" He threw the paper down again after reading the love potion theory - he must be under Hermione's spell, as that was the only way he'd ever fall for a muggle born like her - and shook his head. "I am under your spell," he offered after a moment. "But it's completely of my own free will. You just mean the world to me."

They had turned and started towards the Potion's classroom - as that was the first class of the day for them - when the person they had long expected finally decided to show up with a sneer. "So, off to another broom closet with your... thing?" Malfoy asked, looking in disgust at Hermione. "How you could sullen your pureblood with something like..."

"Pure blood?" Harry asked with a laugh. "Is that what you think?" When Malfoy didn't answer, Harry just laughed harder. "My father was a pureblood - I guess Potter's a rather old name, isn't it? - but my mother was a muggleborn, just like Hermione!"

"So you're a halfblood?"

"Just like your precious Voldemort, yeah!"

"I will not let you insult the Dark Lord!" Malfoy said, furious as he drew his wand in a sudden movement from his sleeves. He didn't have any time to react before Harry had reached up and touched his DA badge. In an instant, a dozen others were surrounding them, all with their wands trained on Malfoy, who was suddenly looking rather pale.

"What's wrong, Malfoy?" Hermione asked with a grin and a sly wink to Harry. "Kneazle got your tongue?" Ginny and Neville, who were both among the crowd surrounding the three, all broke into broad grins, but said nothing. "Besides, shouldn't you have come with your goons? Merlin knows you can barely walk on your own, let alone threaten someone without help..."

"And you're really one to talk?" Malfoy shouted back. "Calling on your precious DA whenever there's trouble! What Dirty Antics are they going to get to next?"

"Dirty Antics?" Harry mouthed in confusion as Hermione burst into laughter.

"That Skeeter bug doesn't know anything!" she laughed. It appeared that most of those around them also knew what they were talking about, causing Harry to bend down to pick up the article again. This time, he was determined to read it all the way so he wouldn't be caught off guard again.

_Often found in the midst of their secret organization - publicly called the DA - one has to ask just how committed they are to each other. With a club name like the Dirty Antics, one has to wonder just what type of things they are constantly getting up to together. The biggest question to ask, though, is why Harry Potter would be willing to be used by such a scarlet woman who is the brains behind the Dirty Antics._

_An even bigger question is why the Headmaster is allowing such a filthy group to continue in his school - surely a tryst like they have going must be against a dozen school rules at least, as well as every morale fibre in a decent person's being!_

He couldn't help himself... he just had to laugh after finishing it. Looking around at the others - who now seemed surprised by his laughter, he couldn't help but laugh even harder. "Dirty Antics?" he roared, shaking his head and holding his sides. "Who came up with that?"

"Why don't you just ask your scarlet - "

Harry had his wand out and level with Malfoy's face before he could finish his question. "One word, Malfoy. Go on... just say it. Just one word, and you can get an repeat of what happened the last time you insulted her in my presence..."

There was a thick silence in the air at that, broken finally by the sound of movement beyond the group. They all turned to find several teachers as a group of students starting to leave the Great Hall, and decided it was a good time to disperse quickly. Without a backwards glance at Malfoy, Harry and Hermione started down to the Potion's classroom again after giving the DA members around them a quick nod of thanks.

After class, Harry made it a point to speak with Dobby about screening Owl posts in the near future that are given to Hermione - he didn't want a repeat of the fourth year incident involving bubotuber pus. For his part, Dobby was ecstatic about being asked to help.

On Thursday evening, Harry ran into Professor McGonagall, who seemed quite worried. To his surprise - and partial dismay, truth be told - the Quidditch match the following day was still on. In otherwords, despite Ron and Luna's kidnapping and the state of affairs in the school and the wizarding world in general, sports were still going to happen. It made sense in one way, as Quidditch always boosted morale, but to Harry, it was simply adding insult to the injury. It was Ron's favourite game, after all, and to play without him around seemed... well, wrong.

It was with this firmly in his mind when Harry woke the next morning, too. He asked the rest of the team to get something to eat, but he couldn't bring himself to even look at food. On top of that, he barely even heard Hermione's words of encouragement before he excused himself from the Gryffindor table and walked out of the Great Hall.

Almost in a trance, he walked through the halls and corridors, as though looking for something that he knew he wouldn't find. 'How could they do this?' he thought to himself as he paused by the charms classroom. 'How can they ask me to play a game when Ron and Luna are...'

A loud crash inside the classroom interrupted his thoughts, but when he went to open the door, something held him back. "What is the meaning of this?" Someone inside the classroom was obviously upset, and Harry had sat through enough classes to know that voice - Snape?

"I brought you hear to talk, Potion's Master," Talisien's voice replied calmly. "As you seemed unwilling to listen to anything I had to say, I decided to take matters into my own hands to force yours."

His infamous curiousity piqued, Harry knelt down to look through the keyhole of the door to see what was going on. Snape was pacing back and forth along the far wall, but Talisien was simply sitting calmly on a desk, watching him.

"There's nothing to talk about, elf!"

"Perhaps not," Talisien admitted. "But I am aware that you spoke to Dumbledore earlier today about the missing students, did you not?" Snape froze, but then nodded gruffly. "Then I believe I am within my rights to ask about it."

"They are not your concern!" Snape snapped back. "The Headmaster is doing what he can with my information, and..."

"I don't care," Talisien interrupted him harshly, suddenly on his feet. "I want to know how they were doing, not where they are."

At that, Snape's usually pale face lost the rest of its colour. "How they... look, Talisien, surely you know what's going on, don't you? The Dark Lord is holding them, and is planning..."

"Of course I know that you rotting corpse!" Talisien roared back. It was the first time Harry had really seen the elf almost lose his temper, which really surprised him. He couldn't help but smile a touch at what he had just called his least favourite professor, though. "I want to know how they are!"

"Not good," Snape finally said softly. "He has connected the crystal to their systems, and the poison has taken hold, as you surely know. With Weasley's birthday well past, he had to activate it before he was really ready."

"I am not familiar with the effects of the crystal, Severus," Talisien said softly. "Nor do I know how he is planning on activating it."

"Let's just leave it with the fact that he had to start before either of the two were of age. He brought me in to see them to ensure that they would both survive long enough."

"And?"

"They'll live," Snape said, shaking his head. "Though it may be best if they didn't, given the power of the poisons in them. The pain that they have gone through just because of that..."

"I assume they are being treated like most prisoners, too," Talisien said after a moment of silence.

"Most prisoners?" Snape laughed, a sharp, high imitation of a bark which twinged Harry's thoughts of Sirius's own laughter. That the two wizard's laughter was so similar was something he couldn't think about just then, trying to hear what was going on. "Talisien, the Dark Lord doesn't keep prisoners! He had to construct an entire base of operations on top of an old one just to house them!"

Talisien didn't say anything right away, but started pacing himself now that Snape had stopped. "Are they being abused or beaten in addition to the poisoning?"

"Lovegood has gone through things that I will not repeat," Snape said in a hushed voice. "And Weasley has had to live with that knowledge, and the fact that he has been powerless to help her. That started thanks to their refusal to help the Dark Lord - they will not betray Potter. If I were in their shoes, then..."

"Do not finish that thought, Severus!" Talisien said harshly. "For if you were in their shoes, you would have died by now, I am sure." There was a pause, and then Talisien flitted out of sight, reappearing in the front of the room. Harry was really thankful that the keyhole was large enough to see the entire classroom - a student had probably cast a charm on it quite some time ago for that very purpose. "Did you do anything to help them?"

"I made sure they would survive the poison, even if it isn't pleasant."

"I meant with the rest," Talisien replied instantly. "Did you give them anything to protect them from pain or heal their injuries?"

"I dare not," Snape said in equally harsh tones. "If I gave them anything like that, then the Dark Lord would know that I did more than he had asked, and was helping them. My cover would be blown, and my life forfeit."

Harry had to cover his mouth to try and keep the sound of his gasp from reaching inside. He suspected that Talisien probably had heard him by now anyway, but for some reason hadn't said anything about it. The sight of Talisien drawing his sword against Snape and holding it pointing towards the Professor was a shock, though.

"Your life is meaningless in this case, Snape!" Talisien said coldly. "A teacher must do all they can to help a student, to protect a student. If you are more worried about your own life than theirs, then you have no right to be here at all!"

"Our side needs a spy!" Snape shouted back, staring at the weapon held before him defiantly. "Dumbledore respects what I have done, and what I am going to do! It's dangerous enough as it is without stepping in to do more!"

"Spies are worthless," Talisien said, slicing down with his sword as he spoke. Although he didn't hit Snape, the Professor did back up quickly at the motion. "Especially spies who can't help those trapped on the inside!"

"You want me to give up my life to help them?"

"I want you to do the right thing. I am well aware of the risks you have taken, and I know what you are capable of. If you put your mind to it, I'm sure you could help them and get out before being caught."

"My position would be compromised."

"That holds no bearing over me," Talisien said simply. "Now, do you know where they are?"

"I have a couple of suspicions," Snape admitted. "If I were to return a second time to treat them, then I believe I could find out for certain."

"And this crystal... what is that about?"

"The Dark Lord managed to get it out of the Time Room in the Ministry of Magic without anyone noticing. I didn't ask how, and he didn't offer," Snape said before Talisien could question him on it. "Dumbledore is only just aware of that fact, and will probably be moving to deal with it soon. We don't know what it can do."

"Do you know where it is?"

"What do you want from me?" Snape demanded. "I don't have to answer to you or anyone else! I work for Dumbledore, because he trusts me! I'm risking my life everytime I answer one of the Dark Lord's summons, and this is how I get thanked for it?"

In a flash of light catching the drawn blade, Talisien turned and held his weapon before him. A moment later, Snape's left sleeve fell to the ground and he clutched at his arm. There was a scratch just above the Dark Mark, and was now dripping blood on the ground.

"You do the right thing, or I will hunt you to the ends of the earth to make you pay," Talisien said in a calm voice. "My blade has tasted your blood, and would have no trouble taking a second drink. You will do what you can."

"You can't order me to do anything!"

"You have one week," Talisien said before suddenly vanishing from the room. Harry backed up quickly, away from the door, and ran down the corridor to avoid being seen by the head of Slytherin House.

'Talisien threatening Snape?' he thought to himself. 'And what about that crystal? And Ron and Luna being poisoned...'

He ran headlong into Professor Dumbledore before he could even stop himself. "Harry, I believe your team will be needing you shortly," he said with a kind smile. "I, myself, am just about to head down to the Quidditch pitch."

"What was stolen from the Time Room?" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself. Dumbledore stopped in surprise, but shook his head rather than answering.

"Now is not the time, Harry," he assured him softly. "I will tell you all I know later. For now, you have a game to play and a team to lead." Harry knew the tone that Dumbledore was taking - he wasn't going to budge from that position no matter what.

It was with some trepidation and more than a little anger flowing through him that Harry made his way down to the Quidditch pitch a few minutes later. He met Hermione at the gates, and gave her a quick kiss. "Sorry about earlier," he said softly, trying to keep a firm hold of his anger. He wanted to use it during the game, so it wouldn't do for her to take it from him now.

"I understand," she promised him. "Now, promise me one thing?"

"Name it," he said with a smile.

"Beat Slytherin into the ground," she said with a smile of her own, though it was more of a sad smile than anything else. "Do it for Ron."

"You got it," he said with a firm nod before turning to enter the changing rooms. Inside, he found the entire team lined up, watching and waiting for him.

"Everyone ready?" Ginny asked as he shrugged off his cloak and ducked behind a curtain to change into his robes. "Because this one's for my brother."

"Are you sure you want me in as Keeper?" Dennis asked. Harry stuck his head out from around the curtain and saw that he was looking quite nervous. "I've never flown as Keeper before!"

"Lavender, Ginny, and Colin are Chasers, Kirke and Sloper are Beaters, and I doubt you'd want to take Seeker, right?" he pointed out, pulling back before the younger Gryffindor could see his grin. "Besides, you'll do fine. I know we haven't had as many practices as we probably should have, but we'll beat them."

"We have to," Ginny pointed out. "And not just for the Quidditch Cup! If we lose to them, when Ron gets back he'll never let it drop!"

"When?" Kirke asked in surprise. "I thought..."

"Yes," Harry said firmly, coming out from the curtains dressed in his Quidditch robes. "When," he repeated. "When Ron gets back, I want us all to be able to tell him that we slaughtered Slytherin for him. And I'm not about to lose that chance, got it?"

"Besides," Lavender pointed out, poking Denis with her broom. "The Slytherin's are pretty brutal. We wouldn't want little old you to take a beating, would we? They almost never send the bludgers at the Keeper, right?"

"But when they do, it's some bad," Colin added. "Didn't Wood take one in the stomach during your first year, Harry?"

"We'll beat them," Harry said firmly, not accepting any other words until everyone on the team had nodded to that bold statement. "And then we'll see where we are, got it?"

As they were filing out into the narrow passage to wait for the calling of their team, Harry caught Ginny's shoulder, holding her back for a minute. #Snape's seen your brother,# he chirped softly to her, not wanting anyone to be able to tell what he was saying expect for her. #He's been better, but he's still breathing. It won't be long now before we know where he is, okay?#

She looked up to him in surprise as tears came to her eyes. #Thank you, Harry,# she chirped back softly as she leaned in to give him a quick hug. "Thank you," she repeated in English.

"Hey," Harry said easily. "I keep saying we'll save them, don't I? I thought you might want to know before we started today, that's all." Just before they were called, he looked back to Ginny. "Oh, if you happen to see Hermione before I do after the game, could you tell her that I have to talk to her?"

"You'll see her first, Harry," she said easily. "Since you'll catch the snitch, and there's no way she's not going to kiss you after you do!" The rest of the team laughed at that, and then mounted their brooms to get ready for flight.

Harry gripped his broom firmly in one hand as he strode out onto the pitch to meet with Madame Hooch and Malfoy for the toss. While wizarding coins might have been shaped slightly differently than muggle ones, they still had two sides that were easily distinguishable.

"Shake hands, captains," Madame Hooch said firmly. "And remember, I want a good, clean game!"

Harry took Malfoy's hand firmly, and grit his teeth against the increasing pressure that the Slytherin was applying, adding it to his already brewing anger. "You know, Potter... I doubt little Weasley can survive much longer," Malfoy sneered in an undertone. "I do hope his little slut does, though. She is quite the looker... ignoring her tendency to scream, that is."

It was only due to shock that Harry actually released Malfoy's hand and both stepped backwards. With a smirk from the other boy as he shot to the air, Harry suddenly had a hard time hearing anything else save for the blood rushing past his ears, his anger building to such an extreme that he could hardly remember another time... save for with Snape at Grimmauld Place over the holidays.

He started suddenly at the hand on his shoulder, and turned to find Ginny hovering behind him, motioning skyward. They couldn't get started until all players were in the air, and Madame Hooch was already looking a little impatient.

"Send Kirke and Sloper down here," Harry said firmly. "Now."

Although Ginny was surprised by the request, she nodded and shot into the air again, only to be replaced by both Gryffindor beaters a moment later. "Gin said you wanted to talk to us, Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry said, looking up to Malfoy as he hovered above them. "You know the rules about malicious beating, right?"

"Once someone's off their broom, you can't hit another bludger towards them," Kirke said easily. "Don't worry, we wouldn't let it happen anyway."

"I don't think you understand," Harry said darkly, mounting his broom and starting to rise slowly. "I want you to take Malfoy out of this game."

Both beaters looked to each other in surprise at the request, and then back at Harry. Finally, just as Madame Hooch blew her whistle to start the game, Kirke nodded. "Keep count, would you, Harry?"

Finally on his Firebolt again, the one place where peace had always managed to grip him as the rest of his life worries seemed to fade away, for once Harry couldn't concentrate on the game. Malfoy's words kept repeating themselves over and over again in his mind. He barely noticed as each of the Chasers on his team tapped his shoulder as they raced forward to contend for the Quaffle.

Looking down, he scanned the crowd of those watching the game quickly, trying to find anyone who looked out of place. Hermione was standing cheering already, and Kailyn was right beside her, which only made Harry smile despite himself. Other than the fact that a couple of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were in the Gryffindor stands, nothing looked out of place at all...

When a great boo erupted from one quarter of the stadium, Harry whipped back around to watch the action beneath him. He was shocked to see Malfoy falling in almost slow motion from his broom a good fifty feet in the air. Just as his broom flew out from under him, another bludger stuck him hard in the chest. As soon as that one had left, Harry saw the air rippled beneath him and looked to the stands quickly, seeing Dumbledore with his wand now trained on the falling Slytherin boy.

Apparently whatever spell he was using had no effect against the bludgers, as they both came in a second time halfway down and stuck him hard in the side, a sickening crunch echoing throughout the arena as the other one caught his leg just below his hip.

There was no question about the fury on Madame Hooch's face as she screamed at both Gryffindor beaters, and then at Harry for letting such brutality exist before giving Slytherin a free shot at the Gryffindor hoops. Harry nodded in grim satisfaction to both beaters as Slytherin scored the first goal of the game.

"Four," Harry said softly as they flew passed him. "Thanks."

"Been wanting to do that for some time anyway, Harry. And I'm sure Fred and George did, too," Sloper replied. "But if anyone asks, if was an accident."

"Course."

What started off as a rather brutal game of Quidditch only intensified as the afternoon wore on. Without a seeker on their side, Slytherin had to make full use of their Chasers in an attempt to score enough points to make the snitch worthless. Gryffindor's Chasers were no slouches, however, and set out to make that as difficult as possible.

As Denis had predicted, he was a horrible keeper, but Harry didn't really think it mattered much. With Ginny, Lavender, and Colin scoring more than twice to every one goal of Slytherin's, there was no concern, so Harry pulled his mind out of the game for a time to try and unravel just what Malfoy may have meant by his words to him.

_Has he seen Ron and Luna?_ Harry thought to himself as he absently spun aside from a bludger sent at him by Crabbe... or it might have been Goyle, but he didn't think it mattered. Not even the enthusiastic announcing of Dean could penetrate his thoughts just then. _When would he have had the chance? And where would he have gone? I mean... it couldn't be that simple, could it?_

In retrospect, he really didn't mean to, but he reached up suddenly and found the snitch in his hand, fluttering like mad trying to escape for a moment before admitting defeat. Looking down in surprise, Harry couldn't help but laugh out loud as he held it up and waved down to the crowd far below. Apparently he had floated up quite some distance, but as he shot down with it held high, the crowd easily figured out what had happened.

Rather than the traditional landing on the pitch first, Harry flew right into the Gryffindor stands and landed easily right before Hermione. As she threw her arms around him, he turned his head slightly so she'd miss with her first kiss. #Malfoy knows where they are,# he purred to her, and wasn't surprised at all to feel her stiffen in his arms suddenly. #And I've got an idea, but we have to have some way to prove it... if only they had one of the modified badges... we need to get a hold of them to find out for sure!#

Hermione's chocolate brown eyes suddenly lit up as he looked to her again, and she leaned forward and kissed him hard on the lips to applause from the surrounding crowd. Just a moment later, however, she released him, and taking that as his queue, he flipped backwards and landed on his broom again to take to the skies.

#Grab your necklace... the one that Luna gave you for your birthday,# he heard Hermione's meow over the roar of the crowd. Even if he didn't understand what she meant completely, he did nod as he took another lap around the pitch, only to land in the middle of his team. They all looked a little worse for wear - a sure sign that things had gotten completely out of hand in the game, but Harry hadn't noticed because he simply wasn't paying attention.

"330 to 70!" Ginny said with a laugh, turning and throwing her arms around Harry just as Lavender did the same. All four boys slapped him on the back and laughed as well just as both girls pulled away from him. "Good job, Harry! Another year with the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor!"

#Can you cover for me if I have to take off?# Harry chirped softly as they turned back to the crowd as Dumbledore descended to the pitch to award the Quidditch Cup again for another year. Although obviously surprised by the request, Ginny nodded after a moment, and then burst into applause as the golden trophy was passed from Headmaster to student once again.

Even as Harry held the cup above his head, he couldn't keep the thought of out his head that it had been Ron just last year to do this very same thing...

* * *

Snape paused for a moment in the darkened corridor to rub against his left forearm. Although the burning sensation from the Dark Lord's summons had long since warn off, the sting from the cut just above the Dark Mark had not. Although he had taken a potion to heal the wound, it had had no effect, telling his that some sort of magic was at work in the elf's sword... a fact, on second thought, he should have known anyway. 

He cursed to himself as his thoughts landed on the elven Professor. He was even more meddlesome than the Dark Lord felt Dumbledore to be, and that was saying something. The ex-Death Eater shook his head quickly to quell his thoughts and slipped into the room quickly and quietly.

"Wake up, Weasley," he muttered as loudly as he dared when he knelt next to the boy. Although the boy still had his robes on, they were drenched in a mix of cold water and drying sweat, and had traces of blood on the main torso. The boy also smelled of urine and feces, which made sense, given how neither prisoner were ever given a chance to go to the bathroom, and had been left to soil themselves repeatedly. "There isn't much time here, you know."

The groan sounded loud to his ears, but he forced his nerves to remain calm. Slowly, Weasley's eyes opened, and then he pulled back quickly, a look of fear in his eyes. "Get... get away, Death Eater! I'm not telling you anything!"

"Really, Weasley, the act is good and all, but I don't have time for it right now!" Snape snapped at him. "Get back here, before I have to leave without treating your girlfriend, too!"

"What?" It came as no surprise to him that the foolish boy didn't have his wits about him. If it had been another student, he would have blamed that entirely on the stay in the prison, but as it was Weasley...

"There isn't time to explain," Snape said, pulling out a vial from the inside of his robes. "Drink this, quickly," he urged, holding the vial to the poor boy's lips. Although obviously a little leery, he still reached up and opened his mouth, being unable to do more than that, given that he was bound hands and feet. "Do not choke on it or spit any out - this is an exact dose."

Once the boy had swallowed, he sat back again and then looked over to the corner where Lovegood was curled up. She was chained to the wall, and had much less mobility available to her than the youngest Weasley boy.

"What's this stuff do?"

"Should heal some internal stuff, and take some pain away. You'll have to fake it, and I'm sure it will be discovered anyway," Snape said. He then pulled out his wand and pointed it at the boy's bindings, muttering under his breath. When they metal shackles snapped off and fell to the floor, Weasley looked surprised. "Help me get her in a position where I can help," he urged.

Apparently, the boy needed no further instructions as he rushed over to the girl's side. While his robes may have been more or less in tact, Lovegood wasn't nearly so fortunate. Snape found himself immensely pleased - in a sickening kind of way, he realised - that he was used to cruel conditions from his own acts as a Death Eater years ago, so he could look at the girl an not be fazed by it.

"Luna, sweet, wake up," Weasley whispered to her, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. Snape looked away at that display, and then snapped his head back.

"We must hurry, Weasley. Time is of the essence... I must get away before the Dark Lord realises what I have done!"

"You're not supposed to be here?" Snape shook his head at the boy's idiocy.

"Not now, Weasley!" he said quickly, pulling out a powder from his robes this time. Rather than wait for him to wake Lovegood up, he pulled a pinch of the powder out and sprinkled it over the girl. "There," he muttered more to himself than to the boy. "When she wakes up, she'll be free of pain for a while. That should heal some things, too, but won't be as effective as a potion."

"You can't stay to give it to her, too?"

"I have already overstayed my welcome here, Weasley," Snape said quickly. "I do not have time, nor a need, to explain myself to you. Now get back over there so I can do up your bindings again!" He was quite thankful that the boy didn't need being told twice, and then he paused at the door, finally looking back again. "Good luck, Weasley."

There was a pause as he opened the door silently, and then he heard a whisper following him. "Thanks, Professor."

By the time Snape had maneuvered through the long halls and large passageways, he could heard the noise above him, telling him that someone had already discovered his transgressions. Doubling his pace, he was now in an all out run as he shot out of the large Manor and stopped just outside the apparation point. In an instant, he had vanished with a pop, and then started up the path in Hogsmeade to report his latest mission to those within the school.

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...**  
The Shadows**


	38. Did You Find Freedom?

Chapter Thirty Eight: Did You Find Freedom? 

"Say that again?" Harry asked incredulously as he sank slowly to one of the two chairs in the Room of Requirement. Hermione was pacing in front of him, holding onto her own butterbeer cap necklace, even as he turned his over and over again in his hands.

"Quintons, Harry, remember?" Hermione repeated. "Luna said she gave us Quintons as a link to our necklaces!" At his continuing blank stare, she sighed and sat in the chair across from him. "Remember Care of Magical Creatures, and Ariasal? Oh honestly, now..."

"Of course," Harry said quickly. "She is a little hard to forget."

She held up the necklace again, and pointing to the green link that looked like a rock rather than a butterbeer cap. "This is a quinton," she explained. "Which means if I hold this, and you hold yours, we should be able to hear each other's thoughts... or something like that, anyway."

"So we can talk to each other through these things, then, right?" he asked, clasping his tightly. After a second or two, he released it again. "Look, I'm still not sure that I understand..."

"Luna has a butterbeer cap necklace, too, Harry," Hermione explained quickly. "And I'm pretty sure Ron has one two, under his robes."

Harry leapt to his feet quickly at that, clasping the quinton firmly in his hand again. "We could talk to them through this?" he asked.

"That's what I've been trying to explain!" Hermione said with a sigh. "You said after the match that you thought you knew where they were, but you wanted to try to contact them first, right?"

Harry responded by leaning down and capturing her lips with his own for a long, drawn out kiss. "'Mione, you are a genius!" he cried as he stood back up and turned towards the fireplace. "I've always said it, but this proves it again!"

"Hold on a minute, Harry," Hermione warned him. "There could be an issue, though. If these four quintons aren't in synch with each other, then we won't be able to hear a thing. We never did really test them out before, did we?"

"No time like the present," Harry said softly, holding up the necklace and clasping the quinton tightly again, closing his eyes. #Any idea how this is supposed to work?# he purred to her as he focussed on the stone in his hand.

#No one really could explain it to anyone else,# Hermione purred back, standing up to put an arm around him as she held onto her own quinton. #But they all say that it just works...#

Both stood silently before the fireplace in the Room of Requirement, eyes closed to concentrate on the stones for quite some time before Hermione finally released the breath she had been holding and opened her eyes again to look up to Harry. He had the grim look of determination that she knew meant he would never give up, but there was the chance that this simply wouldn't work. There was also the strong chance than neither had their necklaces anymore, too.

"They could be sleeping," she offered quietly.

Harry nodded and turned to her slowly. As he opened his mouth to speak, however, a soft groan came to their ears. "Ron?" Harry asked quietly, almost afraid that he had imagined the sound. "Is that you?"

Another groan, and then there was a sharp intake of breath. "Harry?"

"Ron!" Harry said, looking to Hermione in relief. "Yeah, it's me mate!"

"What's going on?" Ron's voice asked. "Where are you? How did you get here?"

Harry winced to himself and shook his head before answering. "Long story, Ron, but I'm not actually there yet," he explained. "I'm not even sure where you are just yet."

"But... I can hear your voice," Ron said softly. "I can't be dreaming this again, can I? Please... I can't take it again..."

"No, Ron, it's actually me," Harry said quickly, trying to keep his friend's resolve up. "I'm talking to you through the quinton in your necklace. Hermione's idea, you know."

They both heard a soft chuckle, followed quickly by a rough cough that went on for longer than either would have liked. "Mental, that one," Ron managed after a minute.

"I'm here too, Ron!" Hermione said, a smile despite herself. "And you have no idea how good it is to hear you call me that again!"

"It's... not important right now," Ron said, coughing again. "Look, they usually come back soon, so what can you tell me? Anything good?"

Harry and Hermione looked to each other before looking back to the stone in Harry's hand. "We were hoping you could tell us, mate," Harry explained. "We need to know where you are before we can come after you."

"You can't!" Ron said quickly. "They know you're going to try, and it's all set up!"

"We're not leaving you, Ron Weasley," Hermione said fiercely, tears in her eyes. "We've been through too much, the three of us, to give up now!"

There was more coughing, and then the desperation in Ron's voice seemed to kick in. "We don't have much time left, Harry," Ron said softly, talking directly to Harry as though he could talk him out of it if Hermione didn't interfere. "But if you're coming, it had better be soon."

"What's going on?"

"Aside from a lot of curses and a bloody painful poison?" Ron managed with a weak laugh. "I'll live... for now. But Luna's worse off than me... Harry, Hermione, I think she's..."

"We'll save you both, Ron," Hermione said, cutting him off before he could utter his fears. "That's a promise from both of us."

"Malfoy knows," Ron said. "Said he was home when he came to laugh. Merlin, I wanted to strangle him for the way he looked at my Luna!"

Harry suddenly held up a hand to keep Hermione from speaking, and appeared to be listening closely to something as he closed his eyes. Taking his queue, she listened hard, too, but didn't hear anything. She then saw his lips moving slowly, as though repeating what he was hearing.

"They are going to come for us. They are going to come for us. They are going..."

He swallowed hard, and opened his mouth. What emerged were not words, however, and caught Hermione completely off guard as odd crackling sounds broke the silence.

They both heard movement then, and Ron's voice sounded again. "Luna? Are you awake again, love?"

"Harry... he's here?"

"He's talking to us both," Ron whispered to her. "They are going to come for us, Luna."

"I know," she whispered back. "That's what I've been saying all this time..."

"We'll come as soon as we can," Harry promised them both. "But look, if it'll help, just tell them whatever they want to know, okay?" he suggested. "I don't care what secret's they're looking for, if it will keep you two alive, just tell..."

"No!" Ron and Luna both said in a stronger voice than either had heard thus far. Ron then continued. "No, Harry. We aren't about to betray you... no matter what the cost."

"But..."

"We only have our lives, Harry," Luna whispered, cutting him off effectively. "There is nothing left for them to take. Please... be careful."

"Don't worry, we..."

"What's going on in here?" Harry and Hermione looked to each other in surprise as a third voice came to their senses. "Who are you talking to? Alright, you're both coming with me, and we'll sort this out the old fashioned way!"

"Bloody hell!" Harry cursed as the connection was suddenly lost. He turned and threw the necklace in his hand hard towards the fireplace, and watched in slow motion as the quinton shattered magnificently on the hearth. He stopped when he felt Hermione's arms around him again, and felt her sobbing against him.

"They're alive," she whispered eventually. "They're alive..."

"And we know where they are," Harry whispered back. "Mia, we can save them... it's just going to take some planning." He pulled out his DA coin before sighing and simply pressing the badge worn prominently on his green cloak, signalling to the rest of the DA. He then looked to Hermione carefully.

"Go," she said with a nod. "Maybe he'll tell you what we need to know. I'll deal with everyone else," she explained. He nodded, thankful for her understanding, and then strode from the room as it started to expand so all those who were about to enter would fit comfortably.

He had to speak with Dumbledore. The time crystal that was stolen, the knowledge of where Ron and Luna were being held... there were at least a couple of things Harry had to talk with the Headmaster about, and he had the strong suspicion that it would not be an easy conversation.

As luck would have it, a Saturday afternoon when most people in the castle were either still celebrating Gryffindor's victory over Slytherin or just relaxing in the joyful atmosphere, the route from the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor down to the Headmaster's office on nearly the other side of the castle was mostly deserted, so Harry only ended up telling off three students for trying to talk to him. He didn't really know who any of them were, but when he heard the word Congratulations, that was the end of that.

Standing in front of the gargoyle statue, Harry looked at it for a moment, trying to come up with the appropriate candy item that would open the way. It didn't take long, however, for him to notice that the gargoyle seemed to be looking back at him.

"I don't suppose you'd just let me up without having me stand here listing off all the candy I can think of, would you?" Harry asked quietly.

The gargoyle shook his head slowly. "The Headmaster is busy right now, Potter," it said in a gargled voice. "Head in the fireplace, if you know what I mean."

"I could care less," Harry snapped back. "I have to talk to him now! This is a matter of life or death!"

"Isn't it always, with you?" the gargoyle droned. It then bowed its head slowly. "Very well... but if he gets upset with you for disturbing him, don't blame it on me, okay?"

"Sure, fine," Harry said, a little surprised by that. He hadn't really expected the gargoyle to move for him, especially given what powerful artifacts and parchments were probably held in that office. He had expected security to be a little tighter than that. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, Mr. Potter. After all, if I didn't open for you, I'm sure the Headmaster would be down to get you later at any rate."

After conceding that point, Harry stepped back to allow the gargoyle to swivel around, revealing the spiraling staircase ascending upwards into the ceiling. Quickly, he stepped inside the alcove and watched as the gargoyle hide it from view once again before starting up the stairs. He felt confident, somehow, that this conversation wouldn't be a whole lot better than his one less than a year ago now... after the expedition to the Ministry of Magic.

For once, Harry stopped at the door without listening for the voices inside the office and knocked harshly on the old wood. The muffled voices suddenly stopped, and a few seconds later, Dumbledore came to the door to let him inside.

"Ah, welcome Harry. Most impressive catch yesterday," Dumbledore said calmly as he took his customary seat behind his desk. "Even if it was a bit... unplanned."

"These things happen," Harry said, waving the praise aside. There were more important things to talk about, after all.

"And the bludgeoning of Mr. Malfoy in the game... these things happen, too, do they?"

Harry could only shrug to that, and found himself repeating words that had been told to him when he first started playing Quidditch. "Dangerous game, Quidditch. But no one's died in years, so no worries."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said pensively, nodding slowly. "Indeed. Thankfully, that trend has been allowed to continue. Dare I ask what provoked such a tirade of hatred for your opponent, Harry?"

"Dare you... what?" Harry asked, caught off guard. "It doesn't matter!" he said loudly. "That's not what I'm here to talk to you about!"

"Fawkes has missed you this year, especially after the events of last year," Dumbledore said in his calm voice, motioning to the phoenix behind Harry. In response, the bird opened his mouth and three soft, soothing notes filled the room.

"Phoenix song is a wonderful thing," Harry said shortly. "But I'm not about to be distracted, Professor," he explained. "You brushed me off before the match, and I need answers now."

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Indeed you do, Harry. Indeed you do. And, while it may have been unfair of me to hope you had forgotten about such a thing, I should have known better the moment you started towards my office."

"I want that truth you promised me, sir."

"Of that, I am sure," Dumbledore said softly. "And it does not surprise me, either. I just wish I had more to tell you than I do," he explained. "Voldemort has managed to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic."

"I kind of figured that," Harry pointed out. "He's got spies everywhere, and it's not that hard to figure that much out. Who they are may be more difficult, but we know he has spies."

"That's not quite what I meant, but it is true, nonetheless," the Headmaster explained, taking off his half moon spectacles and pinching the bridge of his nose before putting them on again to look around at the portraits in his office. "But we are working on that."

There was a pause, and Harry leaned forward. "What did you mean, then?"

"As you are aware, the Order of the Phoenix has been guarding a good many things recently. In fact, we have been spread quite thin because of that, unfortunately. This made for an easier time for Voldemort's factions to move."

"The Time Room in the Ministry," Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded. "That is correct, Harry. He stole a small crystal... a little larger than a Divination Crystal Ball, actually, though this one is blue. Beyond that, there is little I can tell you about it."

"Why not?" Harry asked. "Surely you know something about it, right?"

"I cannot divulge all secrets, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "And this is one of them that I cannot give you. The fear and panic that the public would face knowing he has this crystal is far too great a risk."

"And what about Ron and Luna?" Harry demanded. "They're at risk, too!"

"A fact that we have little control over," he replied, shaking his head. "Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to locate them while keeping a low profile. Voldemort cannot discover our spy, and so it is difficult."

"Why can't Snape just take a risk and find out anyway?" Harry snapped. "They can't last much longer, sir!"

Harry was sure that it was no trick of the light that made Dumbledore look as old as he did suddenly. "War is a terrible, horrific thing, Harry, especially a war of good and evil, light and darkness."

"Professor?" Harry said slowly, gritting his teeth against making any further comment.

"We have to take all the facts into account. Sometimes... for the sake of the greater good..."

"Greater good be bloody damned!" Harry snapped. "Ron and Luna are being tortured, Professor! We have to act now!"

"If I only had the strength to do so, Harry, I would. We cannot risk..."

"Then I will!" Harry shouted, standing and knocking his chair over onto the ground with a crash. "Malfoy knows where they are being kept, he's even _seen_ them, sir! I can't believe you'd..." He cut himself off as he spun around to storm to the door. "They're at Malfoy Manor! No doubt about it! And they can't be left forever, got it?"

He didn't wait for an answer before slamming the door behind him, the wind billowing forth shunting many of the painting to a crooked position. In his large leather chair, Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes.

"I must say, Albus, that you at least have to admire the boy's spirit." The Headmaster looked up to find Phineas looking down to him. "He may be a little headstrong, but he's got the ambition for the better house."

"And that is what worries me the most, Phineas," Dumbledore explained. "More than anything else, that is what worries me."

* * *

Harry stopped the minute he stepped inside the Room of Requirement. Gone was the comfortable atmosphere of the large oversized chairs and roaring fireplace. Gone were the large bookshelves with row upon row of books explaining about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even the enemy detection devices - the foeglasses and sneakoscopes - where gone! 

In their place stood a series of globes and every part of the walls were plastered with large scale maps and blueprints. Hermione was in the middle of the room with a clipboard in one hand - certainly a muggle invention, but well worth using to take notes standing up - and was talking rapidly to Ginny and Dean about something he couldn't quite make out.

Complete silence echoed through the room the moment he let the door shut behind him, and then everyone scrambled together to form the teams again. Ginny, Neville, and Dean were all standing still, facing him, while everyone else had taken a seat at the only table - a round table, to his own personal amusement - and seemed to be waiting for some sort of instruction.

Hermione, on the other hand, stood up from the table quickly and strode over to him, putting an arm around him for support. Apparently she could see the stress wearing on him already. "Professor Dumbledore..." Harry started, but then stopped as his eyes fell to Ginny, who was looking more hopeful than he had seen her in a long time. He cleared his throat to start again, and watched as Kailyn leaned back in her chair to mutter something to the youngest Weasley.

"What's going on, Harry?" Dean finally asked, breaking the silence. "Hermione said you know where Ron and Luna are, right?"

"Malfoy told me," Harry said slowly, letting go of Hermione to tell her that he was under control again. She glanced up to him, and he met her eyes briefly, letting her work her magics on him to calm him down before turning back to face everyone. "Before the match, he said something that got me thinking."

"He knows where they are?" Ginny demanded, standing suddenly. "How long has he known?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "But I don't feel like finding out, either. I think you understand my request of Kirke and Sloper now, though."

Ginny's eyes darkened as she sat down again. "I don't think I'm happy letting him off that easily," she said loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"We'll worry about that later," Harry explained. "For now, we've got plans to make. Judging by the maps on the walls, I think you've already started a few. 'Mione?" he said, turning to her.

Immediately, Hermione picked up her clipboard again and looked down to the parchment listed there. "I haven't told them where they are being kept just yet, but we have started discussing different things. Given that I doubt anyone here has ever visited the place before, we are going to be going in rather blind. Hence all the blueprints - we are hoping to figure out the best mode of attack given any building plans."

Harry nodded and looked to the table, where a variety of supplies had been laid out for making potions. It was with that thought that he looked up again and met Hermione's eye. "Dobby," he whispered to no one in particular. When no one said anything in response, he repeated the name in a louder voice.

"Yes, Harry Potter, Sir?" Harry looked down to find the little house elf adorned in a knitted sweater, wearing about four house elf hats Hermione had made last year. "What can I do for you?"

"Dobby, we've known each other for a long time now, right?" Harry said, kneeling so he was at eye level to the house elf. Dobby nodded enthusiastically, and Harry couldn't help but smile. "That's why I know that this isn't going to be an easy request for you."

"Dobby would do anything possible to help Harry Potter and his friends!" Dobby said firmly, standing up tall.

Harry smiled and closed his eyes. "Who were your former masters, Dobby?"

The effect of his question was instantaneous, as the happy, bouncing house elf scrunched in on himself, making himself as small as possible. "The... the Malfoy's," Dobby whispered the name so quietly that everyone in the room had a hard time hearing him.

"I'm sorry, Dobby," Harry said softly. "I'm really not trying to upset you. I need to know about their house... the Manor," he explained.

Dobby looked up slowly, his eyes big and round, obviously frightened by the question. Seeing the determined look in Harry's eye, the little creature shrunk back again. "I is sorry, Harry Potter, sir, but a house elf is not allowed to betray secrets..."

"Not even of former masters?" Dobby shook his head violently, and then looked back to Harry again. "Well... could you do one thing for me, at least?" Harry asked, motioning around the room. "Could you put together the blueprints here that come close to resembling the Manor, then?"

Dobby seemed to be thinking quite hard on this request, and finally nodded slowly. "I... I think... I think that I could..." he said softly. "But Dobby not know until he tries," he explained. "Why does Harry Potter need this done?" He must have suddenly thought about his question, because he started looking around as though trying to figure out a way to punish himself for asking.

"You are allowed to question me, Dobby," Harry said quickly. "Please don't punish yourself for that, okay?" When Dobby finally nodded, Harry sighed. "Ron and Luna are being held in Malfoy Manor."

Over the past five, almost six years Harry had spent in the wizarding world, he had seen his fair share of chaos. Not only that, but given his cousin's huge birthday parties that he had been forbidden from ruining, he knew something about chaos beforehand, too. Nothing from his past, however, prepared him for the results of his words in the Room of Requirement.

Not only was Dobby popping in and out by the walls, darting all over the room inspecting everything he could find, but everyone at the table was starting to talk all at once again. Ginny was by far the most vocal, and in truth, Harry even agreed with her idea of sending a care package up to the infirmary for Draco Malfoy. To sidetrack her, Harry agreed, and asked her to take her team to come up with something, but to make sure it couldn't be traced back to them.

With Ron's sister dealt with, the rest of the group was a little easier to handle. Despite wanting to head out immediately to rescue both of their friends, Harry managed to convince them against it. In fact, given that it was now fully nighttime and well passed curfew - a fact that none of the prefects in the room, nor the Head Girl herself seemed to notice, he thought he did quite well when he put his foot down.

"I want to go after them now," Harry explained in the sudden silence after his wand had shot out sparks to the ceiling to get attention. "But I learned my lesson last year after trying to go off without a clue to rescue someone. We want to get them out, without leaving anyone behind. For that, we need to plan and get ready."

"When, then?" Dean asked. "How long do we need to get ready? We've been practicing for weeks now, waiting for the chance, remember?"

"I know," Harry admitted. "But right now, I doubt we'd get out of the castle in the first place. Dumbledore's going to be watching closely to make sure we don't leave," he said sharply. "Something about the greater good. I don't agree with that - we are saving them. But we have to prepare, and plan things out. While I know that's usually Ron's department, he's one of the two we have to rescue, so we're on our own for this one."

"What's the timeline, then?" Neville asked. "If we're making a plan, we're going to make a good one. When do we leave?"

"Next Friday, during lunch," Harry explained. "I'm sure Dumbledore will try to stop us then, too, but it is such a bold move that he won't be able to until it is too late. That will also give us the time to look over the blueprints Dobby is putting together and make enough sap bombs to cover the whole school, which should be plenty for a Manor, too, right?" At the solemn looks he received, he nodded to everyone. "In one week from today, Ron and Luna will be standing among us again."

* * *

It was a real treat Monday morning to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. There was a fast flying rumour about odd things happening to the only patient in the Hospital Ward, which meant that Malfoy would not be present for a while. It also managed to brighten everyone in the DAs moods for a short while. 

If anyone noticed the furtive looks and quick, hurried whispers being passed around all of Sunday and thus far in the morning during breakfast on Monday, no one said anything. The fact that one section of the Gryffindor table appeared to be empty was odd - but in fact was just a separation for the Gryffindor house and the whole of the DA, who were sitting at one end of that table.

In the middle of that end, spread out under the plates and mounds of food, was a large map of a field with a building in the middle. Although quite strange for a tablecloth, they all knew that Dobby had had a hand in it's creation, so they knew they were actually looking at an aerial view of Malfoy Manor, and took to the beginning stages of their plans.

Before any teacher could say anything about it, however, Hermione had copied the map onto a smaller parchment and then Harry had tapped the table three times in quick succession, causing the map to vanish again, to be replaced with a picture of a large sock. Harry laughed out loud at this, and then left with Hermione to head down to Potions.

Unfortunately, here was where the morning took a drastic turn for the worse. Thanks to slow feet, Harry and Hermione managed to be the last two students to enter the Potion dungeon, and Snape whirled on them the moment they stepped foot inside.

"Potter?" he said harshly, causing Harry to draw himself up in surprise even as Hermione sat down next to him.

"Yes, Professor?"

"You will be serving a detention with me tonight," Snape said. "One hour after supper ends. Am I clear?"

His good mood vanished almost instantly, and Harry pulled himself out of his chair slowly to stand and face the Potion's master. "On what grounds... sir?"

"You are breathing too loud, Potter," Snape said back, turning to point to the blackboard, causing a list of ingredients to appear. "And unless you sit down this very instant, you will lose twenty five points from Gryffindor, too."

"Breathing too loud?" Harry repeated, not sure he had heard properly.

"That's pushing it too far, Professor!" Terry said quickly as Hermione nodded.

"He's allowed to breathe!" Hermione added.

Snape waved his wand across the classroom, and instantly all sound ceased. "I am your Professor, and you will listen to me," he said firmly. "Detention, tonight, at seven. Am I clear? Simply nod your head, as no sound will be heard anyway."

"Actually, I think I had better just leave now," Harry said in an equally firm voice. "Before I do something I might regret!" He shook his head subtly at Hermione, who looked ready to stand to follow him, and she nodded slowly as she eased herself back down.

"Get back here, Potter!"

"Save it, you great greasy git!" Harry snapped back as he slammed the door to the classroom open, letting the wood crash against the stone in complete silence. "Oh, and for the record, it appears that your silencing charm could use some work!"

He stormed from the classroom, furious with what had just happened - both with the Professor and himself. He knew he needed to have better control than that, but a detention for _breathing_? That was a bit much even for Snape!

Rather than completely waste the time, however, Harry made his way down the corridors, only to stop in front of the painting of a bowl of fruit to go down to the kitchens. "Dobby?" he called. "Any chance at getting a bit more to eat?"

He knew the words were disaster in the kitchen at Hogwarts, but he wasn't exactly thinking clearly. It wasn't long, however, before he found himself sitting at a table with a mountain of food on it, and about seven goblets of pumpkin juice surrounding him, held up but various house elves.

"I is sorry, Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said earnestly as he finally appeared before him. "But calling such a thing down here is not usually a good idea, as you can tell."

"And I knew it, too, Dobby. I'm sorry, I just forgot," he said, shaking his head. "I just needed a place to calm down and think, and thought I'd get a little more to eat, too."

"Is something else troubling Harry Potter?"

"Just Snape," Harry said with a shrug. "But I figured I might as well talk to you about that map, too," he added once the other house elves started to get back to work. "We need to know about wards..."

Apparently - and if he was honest with himself, he had expected it - Malfoy Manor had a lot of wardings surrounding it. Aside from the normal anti-apparation wards to keep unwanted visitors out, there were also severing wards, salesmen wards, and anti-muggle wards among the least to be concerned about. The severing wards would be the most dangerous of that bunch, but he was confident that someone in the DA would know the counter charm to deactivate such a thing. Since they weren't selling anything, nor were they muggles, they didn't have to worry about the other two.

The worst ward they had to worry about, however, was the mal-intent ward. This was a high classed warding done by someone who really knew what they were doing, without a doubt. If someone visits with the intent of causing harm to the owners of the house, then that pain is inflicted back upon them before they even get a chance.

Thankfully, there was a catch that happened to involve not using the main walkway or hiding behind four of the five bushes near windows. One bush had been left untouched by the ward, so it would be an ideal hiding place for one group before entry.

The inside of the Manor remained a mystery when Harry finally looked up and found Hermione just coming inside to take him to Charms. After thanking Dobby, the two left the kitchens quickly.

"Snape's a bit upset about what happened, isn't he?" Harry asked in a whisper as they hurried through the halls.

"Honestly, Harry, that's an understatement if I've ever heard one," she replied. "Calling him a greasy git in front of the whole class? If he wasn't truly acting like one before, you can bet he's going to now!"

"Hey, he said he had cast a silencing charm," Harry explained with a shrug. When she stopped and stared and him, he sighed and turned back to her. "I'm sorry, Mione," he said softly. "It's just..."

"He was being completely unfair and deserved more than you gave him?" Hermione finished for him when he trailed off, a small smile on her face. "I know, Harry, I know. But there are better ways of getting even, and you know it," she said.

#You really are just a miscreant now, aren't you?# Harry purred to her, his smile too broad to actually allow for normal speech. Before she could reply, he reached out and took one of her hands. #You're simply amazing, Mione.#

#And you are simply Harry,# she replied with a purr of her own as she reached up to kiss him quickly before they started out again. #So... are you going to go to the detention?#

Harry looked to her in surprise. "Of course," he said in English again. "Don't have much choice in the matter, do I?"

"Well, like you said he was being completely unfair. Detention for breathing, honestly, couldn't he have come up with anything better? I mean, nothing against you, Harry, but he could have just waited until halfway through class and then given you a more valid one."

"More valid? Like what, making a mistake on a potion?"

"That's better than for breathing, isn't it?" she pointed out. "It sounds like he's just trying to get an excuse to drive you into the ground in the dungeon when no one else is around to hear it."

It was Harry's turn to stop suddenly, and she looked back to him in surprise. "It's just an excuse," he breathed softly.

"Of course it is!" Hermione said, shaking her head. "You can't get in trouble just for breathing!"

"He wants to talk to me," he explained in a rush. At Hermione's questioning look, he shook his head as though to clear it and then looked towards the dungeons, despite them being on nearly the other side of the school. #Willow, he wants to talk to me. He knows something...#

#If we put it together with what we know," she purred slowly.

#We put it with our own plans, and it'll be a snap to get there and back without harm!# Harry meowed, pulling Hermione into a hug. #I'll even ask him for some advice if I think it would be worth it...#

#He was right about the Protego,# Hermione purred into his ear just before they pulled apart to keep moving. They were already late, but they weren't about to miss the entire class - there were members of the DA involved, and they might think that the two of them had left without them. #I love you, Harry.#

#I know, Mione,# Harry purred back as he pushed the door open to the classroom. "Sorry we're late, Professor," he said normally, looking to the front of the class to the diminutive Professor Flitwick.

"Prefect issues," Hermione explained quickly. "Unavoidable. Some younger students being picked on, I had to intervene, and Harry was there to help," she said. When their Professor nodded and turned back to the board, Harry winked to Hermione and then they took their seats to take part in the lesson.

* * *

"Breathing?" 

Harry sighed as he stopped at the exit to the Gryffindor Common Room. "Yes, Ginny," he said wearily. After an exhausting Defense Against the Darks class, followed by a lesson with Kailyn right before supper, he was already beyond tired. "Breathing. He said I was breathing too loud."

"And you're just going to go to the detention anyway?"

"I don't have much choice in the matter, do I?"

"Well, couldn't Hermione or I, or even Colin do something? Talk to McGonagall?"

Harry shook his head and looked up to her. "This is something I have to do," he said softly, pulling the hood up on his green cloak as a way of ending the conversation and then turning and leaving before she could say anything else.

The walk through the corridors of Hogwarts had never seemed so lonely, really. Hermione was in the library with Julia, but they weren't studying for Arithmancy this time - though that was the illusion that they wanted to show. Instead, they were pouring over books dealing with ancient wardings, to do everything they could to find a way to deactivate the wards surrounding the Manor.

Even seeing a single member of the DA on the way to the dungeons would have put a bounce back into his steps, but he knew that wouldn't happen. Half of them were probably in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom brewing the necessary potion to solidify into the sap bombs, and the rest were all going over blueprints in their common rooms - hence why Ginny had been in the Gryffindor one.

He felt like a general before a giant war, and he didn't like it one bit.

He stopped before the wooden door leading into Snape's office and took a deep breath before knocking firmly and then lowering the hood to his cloak. "Enter."

Harry pushed the door open and found Snape sitting behind his desk, though he stood up immediately upon seeing who it was. "I'm here for my detention, Professor," Harry said after shutting the door.

Snape walked around in front of his desk and leaned against it as he crossed his arms to look at Harry. "Do you take me for a fool, Potter?"

He knew he shouldn't rise to it... but what choice did he have? "No, sir, I take you for a greasy git," he explained. "I thought I said as much earlier before I left the class."

"And I supposed your mud..." Harry tensed quite suddenly and rather visibly, and Snape trailed off for a moment. "Your... well, I'm sure Miss. Granger told you what I said about you afterwards, didn't she?"

"We have better things to talk about than what goes on in your classroom, Professor."

Snape raised an eyebrow at that statement, and then unfolded his arms as he stood up tall again. "Have a seat, Potter."

"I'd rather stand, thank you," Harry replied.

"It would be best for all parties concerned for you to _sit down_!" Snape bit out forcefully, pointing at the chair in front of him as he walked around and sat behind his desk again. "But I doubt you'd even sit down for that blasted elf if you didn't want to, right? You still have your father's arrogance, Potter, and that won't get you anywhere!"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out through his nose slowly, trying to calm down before he said something he would actually regret. "My father has nothing to do with this, does he?" Not giving the Head of Slytherin a chance to reply, Harry took the seat that had been offered to him and kept going. "So for once in your life, can't you leave him out of it when talking to me?"

There was a rather tense silence until Snape finally leaned forward. "I called you a sniveling coward for running away, Potter," he said.

"You can say what you want," Harry heard himself say, even though it wasn't what he was really thinking. "But I am no coward, and you know it."

"I also know that you were witness to an action the last time I was within Headquarters," Snape pointed out. "An incident involving that elf and myself, were you not?" He shook his head as he leaned back again. "Do not bother denying it, Potter. Your words to me directly following that... conversation... left no room for doubt in my mind."

"I'm surprised there is room for doubt in there, actually," Harry said, also leaning forward and putting a hand on the desk. "There doesn't seem to be much room for anything else, is there?"

Snape paled slightly in his anger at such a statement before getting himself under control again. "Despite what you might think, I did not assign you detention just so you could insult me the full time. That is thirty points from Gryffindor."

"Well spent points."

"I do not have time for this!" Snape snapped, standing up in a flourish and turning away from the desk. "And neither do your friends, Weasley and Lovegood!"

All humour at the previous situation vanished instantly, and Harry stood up to face his Professor. "What do you know about them?"

"They are alive," Snape explained. "Lovegood is much worse off than Weasley, but both have received a healing of sorts, as well as a deadening of pain from me." At Harry's surprised look, Snape shook his head. "I do not have time to go into detail, and I don't think you'd want to listen anyway." He turned back to the desk suddenly and threw two wizarding pictures down on the desk.

Harry picked them both up quickly. The first one was revolving around a glowing blue crystal that seemed to be pulsing with energy. It was held on a silver pedestal, but nothing else was clear. The second picture was another view from above Malfoy Manor, moving around. This one was different from the one Dobby had provided, however, in that it showed the various Death Eaters moving about outside before they returned inside again.

It also showed that the house had grown a good deal.

"That is the Crystal of Guidance," Snape said quickly. "If you want a better explanation, ask Miss. Granger, she seems to have an answer for everything."

"You can bet that I will," Harry promised.

"That is also the crystal that the Dark Lord stole from the Time Room in the Ministry. The one the Headmaster would tell you nothing about, Potter."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"The Crystal on its own is nearly worthless, but there is a sacrificial ritual involved which would grant the bearer incredible power. Power to, for example, smash through the protections surrounding Hogwarts and turn the castle to dust!"

Harry sat down hard in the chair and flipped back to the picture of the crystal. "Voldemort has this?"

"_I thought I told you never to speak his name in my presence!_" Snape roared at Harry, making him flinch backwards. He went on in a calmer voice. "Of course he does. I am sure even your addled brain can figure out what the sacrifice entails, right?"

"Ron and Luna..." Harry breathed. "That's the poisoning, isn't it?"

"You are well informed, aren't you, Potter?" He then pointed at the pictures in Harry's hand, and they burst into flames before Harry could have done anything to stop it. "You can not be caught carrying those around."

"We could have used the picture of the Manor!"

"I had assumed you knew where they were being held by now," Snape said, an odd, almost pleased tone to his voice. "You won't have the time to look at it anyway."

"You keep saying that we are running out of time. What's going on? What time are we talking about?"

"The final stage of the sacrifice has to take place at least a full month after the poisoning begins - your friends are fortunate that that time frame saved them. It must also take place on the night of a full moon. The last one was about ten days after they were captured in the first place."

Harry suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he swallowed hard. "And the next one? When is that?"

"You have two days, Potter," Snape said. Before Harry could even start to turn and get moving, Snape called him to wait. "When there, you will also have to destroy the Crystal to free your friends of it's continuing poisons. I am sure you realise by now that my cover as a spy is worthless thanks to my healing of Weasley and Lovegood," he explained. "There is nothing I can do to help, and the Headmaster will not be able to act on this information in time, I am afraid."

"The Crystal will be destroyed, don't worry," Harry promised. "But we're on our own, aren't we?"

Snape held out a long arm slowly, and Harry looked down to find two vials in the Potion Master's bony fingers. A red one and a blue one. "Both contain one dose of the Draught of Stability. I prepared the red one myself, while the blue one was made by both you and Miss. Granger. I suspect Weasley will survive without it, but I have my doubts about Lovegood."

Harry took the vials and pocketed them quickly. "Thank you, sir."

"I wouldn't thank me just yet, Potter," Snape said as he sat down and picked up the goblet that Harry had barely noticed sitting on his desk. "When you return, you will be serving a detention with me for trying to poison a Professor." Without any further ado, Snape drank the full contents of the goblet and then collapsed on his desk, a soft snore following shortly thereafter.

"When we return, I will be glad to be able to," Harry muttered to himself as he closed the door to Snape's office slowly. Then he took a deep breath and let it out even slower before reaching into his pocket for the leading DA galleon. With his other hand, he took his badge off his cloak and then closed his eyes for a brief moment before sprinting from the classroom.

As he ran, he was constantly activating both the coin and the badge repeatedly, despite the pain he felt in his left hand for holding the now burning hot coin. By the time he had run the entire length of the castle and flown up the stairs, he had been joined by half a dozen others, all of whom tried to speak with him, but he ignored them all. He would tell everyone at once what was going on.

When he reached the Room of Requirement, he held a fist up and pushed backwards to keep everyone back so he could create the room. Focussing hard on what they might need, he paced back and forth as fast as he though it safe and took a deep breath as the door appeared.

Opening it, he motioned everyone inside. Hermione gave him a questioning glance as she passed him, but he shook his head, telling her that he would explain in a minute. He was the last one inside, and shut the door with a bang behind him as he stopped and looked around.

The walls of the Room were lined with clothing this time - all black, of course. There were cloaks and robes, dragonhide jackets, boots, and gloves, and a pile of hats in one corner. In a pile on the desk in the middle of the room were two invisibility cloaks, but that appeared to be the limit of such a powerful magical item the Room was able to create, so they would be of little use. The foeglasses had returned, as had the sneakoscopes and a large scrying glass.

Aside from that, there was a table next to the fireplace - that had also returned - that held a couple dozen goblets of a thick pink liquid.

"We're leaving in the morning," Harry said after a moment of silence. "Because if we leave it any longer than that, there won't be any point in mounting a rescue at all."

"What?" Ginny asked, first to leap to her feet.

"Wednesday night is a full moon," Harry explained. "And that is the night both Ron and Luna are to be sacrificed, if we don't intervene first."

"Can't we get some help, then?" Dean suggested. "Dumbledore? Talisien?"

Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore believes in something called the greater good." He spat the term out before continuing. "And won't be able to get ready in time. And Talisien told me earlier that he will not be venturing into the domain of Voldemort. This is not his war - but that doesn't mean he couldn't train us."

"So you want us to get some sleep tonight and leave in the morning?" Lavender asked. "There's no way I could get any sleep now!"

"That's what the dreamless sleep potion in the corner is for," Hermione pointed out. "We do need to get some sleep, but we've got to get everything else ready first. Kailyn, how are the sap bombs coming? Do we have any ready?"

"The batch we were making won't be ready until Thursday," she replied, shaking her head. "But I have half a dozen already, left over from home."

"Looks like that'll have to do, then," Harry said easily. "Did we get the full blueprints from Malfoy Manor yet?"

"Dobby has given us all he can," Dean offered. "Mumbled something about already treading on thin ice, so I think asking for more now wouldn't be much good."

"And they've been looked over?"

Dean nodded and a short silence fell over the group before Cho spoke up. "It looks like we're as ready as we'll ever be, Harry. Just one question first... how are we going to get there? Do we ever know where Malfoy Manor is?"

"Leave that one to me," Kailyn spoke up before Harry had a chance to. "I know just the thing, but I'll have to find them first..."

"Alright, it's in your hands," Harry said with a shrug, meeting Hermione's eye with a questioning glance. She didn't seem to have any idea what the half elf was talking about either, but they figured it best to trust her. "For now, I'd like everyone to break off while I have a word with Dean, Neville, and Ginny." Hermione immediately pulled her clipboard out of her bag and sat at next to the fireplace. She knew that she was included in those he wanted to stay behind.

Harry moved over and sat next to her to wait for everyone else to do as asked. Before anyone left the room, they all took a set of clothing from the side of the room and a small sip of potion to help them get to sleep.

"So far, we've decided on the distraction method," Hermione explained to Harry before he could say otherwise. "It isn't the safest for the distraction team, but it is very important. Hopefully, they can draw enough attention to give everyone else a clear path inside the Manor."

"The other three teams will be split up as well, though. There is a side passage on the northern side of the house that the Oaken Shield will be dealing with," Ginny offered. "Once inside, we'll work on securing an easy escape path."

"The Dark Warriors and your team will be in charge of searching for Ron and Luna," Dean explained. "As soon as they are found, the order to evacuate will be set off through a magical resonance charm, and we can get out again. That, I think, will be the largest challenge."

Harry nodded after a moment, lacing the fingers of his right hand through Hermione's and holding her hand tightly. "Alright," he said softly. "So, Prince is going to attack the main gate, then?"

Neville nodded. "We'll be alright, though," he said quickly. "I don't intend on kicking it there, don't worry."

"I'm going to worry," Harry said easily. "There's no stopping that. Just keep yourself safe, alright?"

"Once we've caused the issues, we'll be hopefully slipping inside to find Ginny and her team," he explained.

Harry didn't say anything right away, and Hermione gave his hand a squeeze. "There's something else, isn't there?" Harry nodded. "And it's not good, right?"

"That's uncanny," Dean muttered under his breath, and both Neville and Ginny nodded along with his statement, but neither Harry nor Hermione seemed to pay him any heed.

"Snape told me about the sacrifice because he's worried about the crystal being activated. It was stolen from the Time Room in the Ministry of Magic... it's called the Crystal of Guidance," Harry said in a hushed voice, despite the fact that the five of them were the only ones there.

Dean, Neville, and Ginny all looked to Hermione almost instantly, and were surprised to see her eyes wide with shock. "What's it do?" Ginny asked.

"No one was really sure when it was studied almost five hundred years ago," Hermione said. "They determined that it held a lot of dark magic inside it, but beyond that, no one could tell anything. It was created before the time of Merlin, and was apparently used as a crystal ball and scrying glass by numerous wizards and witches of that age before they all mysteriously died."

"It requires a sacrifice," Harry said tonelessly. "And it's not something it's going to ever get. I promised Snape that I would destroy it before leaving the Manor." No one said anything for a moment, and he nodded. "So, we're ready, then?"

"We just have to deal with getting out again," Ginny reminded him. Harry just shook his head, though.

"Let me deal with that. We're covered, don't worry." He then met each of the other leaders' eyes, and saw his own worry mirrored back. "This will not be a safe trip, nor will it be pleasant. Your jobs will be the most difficult, too, having to lead the others. Get some sleep," he suggested, standing up again. "We'll all talk in the morning before setting out."

Once Dean, Neville, and Ginny had left the Room of Requirement, Harry waved a hand towards the door, and watched in amazement as it not only locked itself, but vanished quite entirely. He then turned back to Hermione and held a hand out to help her up. As he did so, he was quite amazed to see one of the large comfortable chairs like from the Gryffindor Common Room suddenly appear next to him, and he pulled her down to sit in his lap in it.

There wasn't time for any words to be spoken before her lips found his firmly, and all sense of dread and worry vanished from his mind as he focussed on kissing Hermione. The urgency from before was still present, though, so the kiss did not remain chaste for long before he welcomed her probing tongue into his mouth as he started to explore her own.

* * *

Harry woke up a few hours later a little unsure where he was. He had a bit of a kink in his neck, but that was the least of his concerns when he realised the position the two of them had fallen asleep in. Looking around the Room of Requirement for anyone who might have entered inadvertently, he then remembered that he had vanished the door before the beautiful witch in his arms had leapt at him last night. 

Last night.

Those two words brought back of rush of memories to Harry, and he forced himself to take a deep breath and close his eyes to keep from moving otherwise. Hermione was still asleep in his arms, still wearing just as little as she had been for most of their... er... make out session. At least the cloak covering them was warm - and Harry made a mental note to thank Talisien for them later again. It had covered them just when he thought of it.

A sudden change in Hermione's breathing pattern alerted her that she, too, was waking up, so he gave her a small squeeze. Almost at once, he felt her arms reach up around him and she was leaning up to give him a quick kiss before pulling away.

#Time to wake up," he purred softly.

#Everything okay, Harry?# she purred back, looking a little worried.

Harry nodded. #Yeah. Better than okay, really... I mean, this morning, I wake up to find a beautiful witch practically naked in my arms. What could I possibly complain about?#

Hermione squealed as his fingers found her side, and she pulled herself up and out of his lap, looking around from her clothes. #We didn't... go too far or anything, did we?# she mewed softly. #I mean...#

#It's okay, Mia,# Harry purred. #You pulled back when you thought you went too far, and... well... it was good, don't worry.#

#I love you, Harry,# she meowed in a full voice once she had her bra done up again. As she picked up her robes to pull them on, she looked up and met his gaze.

#I know, Hermione,# he meowed back, the use of her full name catching her off guard. It was only then that she realised he was holding something in his hands suddenly, and she looked down to see a small wooden box. #By Merlin's beard and Morgana's betrayal, I know you do...#

#But you don't love me?# She hadn't really meant to ask the question, because she knew he did beyond any and all reproach, but it just slipped out. #I mean, can't you say it to me just once? We are about to leave to save Ron and Luna, but there's no guarantee that one of us won't die, too! I don't want that to happen knowing I never heard the words from you...#

She watched the life drain out of Harry's ocean green eyes slowly, steadily, as he stood up, the box held firmly in one hand. "But that's precisely why I can't tell you," he said in plain English.

#What?#

"If I tell you now, just before we head out... you could die on me," he whispered so softly that she could only hear him thanks to her kneazle enhanced hearing. "And I couldn't live through that..."

#That's nonsense and you know it!# Hermione growled back at him. In some part of her mind, she realised that he was speaking English while she was still speaking kneazle, but it wasn't exactly the first thing she had to think about. #There's no difference except the chance that I might never hear it from you!#

Harry sighed and sank back into the large red chair. "You know how I feel, Mione," he whispered. "But all other arguments aside, if I were to tell you now... to say the words that I know you want to hear... then Voldemort wins again."

It was probably the first time in Hermione Granger's life when she really had no idea what Harry meant. The word actually slipped out of her own mouth before she could catch herself. #Huh?#

"The only reason I'd tell you now and not earlier is because of the danger we are about to face," Harry explained slowly. "Because of Voldemort. I don't want to do anything with you because of... because of him!" He looked angry as he said that last part, and then he pulled his robes back up to cover his shoulders, though he left them loose, still showing the flesh of his chest beneath the fabric. "You are too special to me for anything to happen because of him."

Hermione had heard some amazing things in her life - especially after finding out about magic, wizards, and witches - and had heard of some powerfully romantic things in books and in gossip thanks to her roommates... but none of it seemed to compare to the moment that she suddenly found herself in, and she couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes. Harry seemed to understand what the tears where about - or he thought it was because of his refusal to heed her request, she really wasn't sure which - but he held his arms out to her and she rushed into the warm embrace again.

"I do have something for you, though," Harry whispered into her ear after planting a soft, gentle kiss on the top of her earlobe. Separating again, he held out the box a second time. Hermione took it gingerly and opened it, her hands shaking more than she had expected.

Inside the small, carved wooden box sat two simple golden rings. To say they were simple, however, wouldn't quite be accurate, given the jewels and gems that were slowly materialising on both of them. One, the smaller one, had a large diamond cut sapphire that was surrounded by tiny rubies that made the centre of the sapphire actually glow a soft purple as the two colours mixed.

The larger of the two rings was almost the inverse of the smaller one, gem-wise, but the ruby was slightly larger and practically flat - an emerald cut - and the smaller sapphires were all diamond cut surrounding it. Two rings... obviously for two different people.

"The final vow of the elven ritual," Harry said in a soft voice, causing her to look away from the shocking jewellery and back up to him. "The bracelet, representing commitment and protection," he explained, holding up his left arm to show the golden band adorned there. "A necklace, representing the bonds of family and their willingness to step forward in case the worse comes to past." Hermione's heart fluttered slightly as Harry pulled his robes aside again to show his golden medallion with a lightning bolt emblazed upon it. He then pointed to the box in Hermione's hand. "Finally... a ring. It represents the feelings of the heart, the love we share with each other." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I want you to have your ring now, Mione. So, even though I can't say the words you want to hear... you'll have proof of how I feel anyway."

Hermione nodded through her tears and pulled the smaller ring out of it's place in the box. Harry took it from her then, and before she could even have reacted to that action, he had slid it onto her ring finger of her left hand. He then got down on one knee and kissed the back of her hand gently before standing again.

She didn't know where he had found the rings in the first place, but there were obviously magics at work in them, as the ring fit her perfectly and didn't seem to be too loose or too tight. "It's perfect," She whispered to him. "Thank you."

Looking down to the box again, she figured that the rings must have been elven make, given the box looking almost exactly like the... the one that Kailyn had given him for his birthday! Rings! Of course...

She reached into the box and pulled out the other ring, letting the wood clatter to the floor in the otherwise silent classroom. "You don't..."

"If the next words about to come out of your mouth are 'have to,' you had better just forget it," Hermione said, cutting him off with a smile. "I know I don't... but I want you to have your ring, too." Before he could object any further, she had taken his left hand - which was clean once more - and slipped the ring onto his ring finger, too. She then pulled his hand up and kissed it in the same fashion he had done for her. "I love you, Harry Potter."

Harry smiled a little sadly to her and pulled her into an embrace, breathing deep of her scent. "I know, 'Mione. And I'm thankful every time I think about it, too."

When then finally pulled together, Hermione looked over to the fireplace while Harry clapped his hands and took a deep breath. "Well... I think it's getting close to time." He lifted his hand up to where the door had been earlier, and it reappeared just as it had been before. "Wish I knew about that last year," he said with a grin to Hermione just as the door opened.

"I knew there was a reason it wouldn't appear earlier!" Ginny said with a smile as she stepped over the threshold. "You two have a good night?"

"You're unusually chipper for this morning," Harry pointed out.

"Colin cast a cheering charm on me when I came into the Common Room," she explained with a shrug and a grin. "It'll wear off in about an hour. Any idea how we're getting there, yet?"

"Kailyn's dealing with that," Hermione replied as Harry walked over to the still open doorway and looked up and down the hallway.

"No one noticed that our beds were empty last night?"

"I think a lot of people noticed several strange things yesterday," Ginny replied. "But there's not a lot that can be done about that now, is there?"

"We are going to save them today, no matter what happens," Harry replied with a nod. He then reached into his pocket and activated the DA coin. It took a total of ten minutes for the entire group to show up, dressed, prepared, and looking more than a little nervous.

"I think we could all use that talk right about now, Harry," Neville said, casting his eyes slowly about the room. Lavender was right beside him, and he had an arm around her, but didn't seem to be paying much attention directly to her. "I don't know about everyone else, but I'm not too much of a coward to admit to being scared."

Hermione turned and walked over to stand amongst the rest of the DA, leaving Harry standing on his own in front of everyone. He could see their fear easily... Merlin, he could practically hear it through their loud heartbeats... or maybe that was his own...

"I don't know," Harry said slowly before trailing off for a moment. He then turned away from everyone to face the fireplace that was quietly consuming an ever-burning log. "I don't know what's going to happen," he explained. "I'm not much at Divination. We are about to embark on a journey with more danger than many of us in this room have ever even dreamed of."

He paused again and took a step away from them, closer to the burning flame. No one said anything in response to his words, and he could tell they were waiting for him to go on. Rather than do so right away, however, he knelt in front of the fire, still watching it.

"Lord Voldemort and his loyal followers, the Death Eaters, have taken two of our own captive. He has tortured them and poisoned them for fourty three days. If we do not take action immediately, then in two days' time, Ronald Weasley and Luna Lovegood will be dead." In a move almost too fast to follow, Harry had caused the fire to roar to life in the fireplace, making the flames lick out at the edges, and then had turned back to face everyone. "I don't intend on letting that happen."

"I am now going to close my eyes," Harry said softly. "After I count to ten, I will then open them again. If anyone wishes to back out now, feel free to do so. No one among us will think any less of you - for make no mistake, witches and wizards... this is a matter of life and death, and a real chance to meet your own end."

Harry closed his eyes as he had promised to do and started to count slowly. He heard movement in front of him, but did not open his eyes despite that. When he reached ten, however, he finally looked at the sight in front of him.

Dean, Neville, and Ginny had gotten their teams to fall in behind them, and Hermione had come up to stand next to him. Everyone in the room had brought their left hand up in a fist to cover their own heart, and were all watching him directly. The fear that had been present earlier was still there, but to a lesser degree.

"The dark forces are very powerful," Harry said in a soft voice. "Once within Malfoy Manor, many of us will face dangers and perils that I can not explain to any of you. All I can ask is that none of you give up. You have to keep trying, and do everything you can to survive."

"As long as you keep moving forward," Hermione whispered, though her voice was heard by everyone. "You can always find radiance."

"It is that radiance that we are fighting for," Harry added, surprisingly moved by the depth of his girlfriend's words. After a pause, he bowed his head. "Hold nothing back. This is a war we are about to fight... a war fought on enemy grounds. Hesitation will kill any of us."

"At the end of the day, there are only going to be two types of people," Kailyn offered, and Harry's eyes snapped to her in surprise. Talisien had said the same thing to him before... and as Kailyn met his gaze, he understood. It was not just words to her - it was a way of life for the elves who had faced so many battles in the past. "Those who are alive, and those who are not."

"One more thing," Harry said into the silence that followed her statement. "If anyone comes face to face with Voldemort... I want you to run. You have no chance of survival otherwise." He was only moderately surprised when no one tried to argue that point with him, but he was certainly relieved at that fact.

"Remember," Dean said as they started to head outside at Kailyn's suggestion. "This is the DA - the Defense Association. We are doing this to protect our friends, our family, and our Hogwarts. Let's make it count."

Slipping past the students just waking up and heading down to the Great Hall wasn't their largest challenge, but it wasn't exactly easy, either. A group of students travelling in a tight pack, all dressed in what could only be described as combat gear did kind of stick out. It was actually only thanks to Kailyn's hurried instructions that they managed to avoid being seen by almost anyone.

Once on the grounds of Hogwarts, it was a mad dash to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Fifteen pairs of dragonhide boots made odd squelching sounds in the dew filled grass, but aside from that, they moved swiftly and silently, stopping as Kailyn did right next to the woods. As was often the case in early morning Hogwarts, the grounds were filled with a soft fog, further aiding in their ability to stay unnoticed.

"Alright, I need everyone to pair off," Kailyn whispered, her voice still carrying to all of them. "One of each partner has to be able to see this," she added, holding up an odd looking black feather. There was no doubt in Harry's mind just what creature the feather had come from - aside from the oddly scaled look, it seemed that few of them could actually see it, which was a definite telltale sign.

"What are we looking at?" Denis whispered to his older brother. Oddly enough, Colin seemed to be able to see the feather, while Denis could not.

Neville, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry all caught each other's eyes at almost the exact same time, but none said a word about the creatures Kailyn had found for transport. "These are spirit riders," Kailyn said softly. "Only those who have seen the transition from one world to another will be able to see them," she added as an odd whinnying sound caught their ears.

The eight who could see them - Harry, Neville, Dean, Colin, Susan, Terry, Julia, and Kailyn - all watched as the winged, black scaled, serpent like horses emerged from the woods. Knowing Lavender and Parvati's unusual devotion to the art of Divination, none of those who knew the creatures' normal name said a thing.

Harry immediately stepped forward and held a hand out to one of the creatures, refusing to let his mind wander to the last time he had seen them. Once it seemed accustomed to him, he vaulted onto it's back and held a hand out for Hermione. She mounted a little more tentatively, given that she couldn't actually see it, and once on wrapped her arms about him quite quickly for a sense of security.

"Make no mistake about it," Harry said firmly as he patted the side of the thestral's head to reassure it and looked down at those still standing on the ground. "This is not going to be easy. I won't lie and say that any of us will be safe - in fact, I'll go the opposite direction. However... I think everyone here is ready. You are all better prepared than some Aurors - at least, according to my Auror Training Manual..."

There were a couple of scattered, nervous chuckles at that, and then Neville mounted one of the creatures, helping Lavender up to ride behind him. "This is it, isn't it, Harry?"

Harry shook his head slowly. "No," he replied, a sense of an eerie calm enveloping him as he spoke. "No, this isn't it. The plan is to get in, rescue Ron and Luna, and get out again. No one here is ready for a final confrontation. Not even me." In his mind, that sounded conceited, but he knew how the DA would take it - most of them saw his magics and his luck as nearly infallible in these situations, and if he wasn't ready, then none of them were. "However, there is one thing I want from everyone here before leaving... one final test."

"Isn't it a little late for that now?" Cho asked as she vaulted up - nearly missing her invisible target - and was caught by Dean. "We're about to head out..."

"I'm the leader of this group," Harry said softly. "And as such, I have to make sure everyone is ready, no matter what time constraint we're facing." He took a deep breath and put one hand over one of Hermione's that was so tightly wrapped around him. "Everyone here must speak his name. If you can't even do that, then there's no way you're ready to face Death Eaters."

Hermione was the first to speak up in a voice loud and clear enough to be heard, but she wasn't first by much. Neville followed right afterwards, and Lavender said is after he did. Dean and Cho looked to each other and said the name, though softer than those before them. Colin said it defiantly as he helped his brother up into place behind him, and Denis was next, though not as strongly as his brother. Susan and Ginny both looked right at Harry as they spoke, both in place on a creature as well. Terry, Parvati, Julia, and Padma all said it at the same time, and then all eyes turned to the last member of the DA, the one who would be riding alone.

"Voldemort has no power over me," Kailyn said softly as she pulled herself onto her mount. "His skills may be terrifyingly powerful, and his actions evil to the core... but I will not back down in the face of that. My lineage will not allow it, and neither will I."

Harry nodded as he closed his eyes, satisfied that he had done all he could. He knew he'd need the help, but now that it was time, time to lead those he had trained into deadly territory, he couldn't help the bile that seemed to be building in the back of his throat, the worry that had settled in his stomach. "Stay safe, and stay alive," he said softly, meeting each members' eyes before he was willing to go on. He then leaned forward. #We need to reach Malfoy Manor, girl,# he said directly in the thestral's own language. If anyone thought that was strange, none of them said a word. Those who could see the creature saw it nod before spreading it's massive wings.

Just as most of the school were taking their seats at the breakfast tables in the Great Hall, fifteen students disappeared into the fog and mists of the early morning, heading south on a long journey from which there was a chance none of them would ever return. Two people watched them leave - one from the main gates of the Castle, and one from the edge of the forest a few feet away from where they had been moments earlier.

Both were left with the hope that they were doing the right thing by keeping quiet and letting children head to war before their time should have come. Talisien turned from the edge of the forest and walked into it's depths, hoping for a chance to ease his unusually shaken nerves, while Severus Snape turned back to the castle and pushed the doors open, thinking he probably should have made the sleeping potion last for the full 24 hours so he wouldn't have to think about what was to be happening on nearly the other side of the country later that day.

* * *

Once leaving the wards of Hogwarts, Harry directed everyone to descend once more so disillusionment charms could be activated. From there, the flight was a silent one with two breaks part way through for heating charms and quick bites to eat - the thestrals didn't seem to need either food or water, though. Harry remained stoically silent to everyone on these stops, though they could all see him checking his pockets again and again, as though worried that he might lose something. 

Kailyn had brought a small pack that was strapped to her side, and it was filled with odd wafers. A single small wafer seemed to be enough to fill anyone's stomach easily, and during both stops no one asked for any more. At the second and final stop, she removed the pack and left it on the ground where they landed - they needed nothing extra that could get in the way.

To say Harry was silent for the entire journey would be wrong, however. He spoke with Hermione almost constantly while they were in the air, both to help relieve some of her fears of flying in the first place as well as to reassure himself as to what they were doing.

The final stop was just outside the range of the protective wards surrounding Malfoy Manor. Night was starting to fall, and the nearly full moon made seeing in the darkness relatively easy. Although they hadn't gotten a chance to actually look at the Manor, Harry figured that that was probably just as well - he knew what it looked like, and how different it was from what they were expecting, and if the others had seen it, it would have only caused for confusion.

Almost as soon as they dismounted and Harry had thanked the thestrals, they took off into the night once more, returning to the north. The small group of students from Hogwarts could hear the crashing of waves, telling them that they were near a shoreline, though they couldn't actually see it.

The nerves had been building all day, but there was no turning back now. Harry motioned to Neville, Dean, and Ginny, and they all were at his side instantly. "Everyone know what to do?" he asked in a whisper, despite the fact that they were completely and utterly alone. Three separate nods reassured him again. "Good. Good luck, Neville. I expect to hear a whole pile about plants I've never heard of when we get back to the castle, alright?"

"Sure thing," Neville said solemnly, reading that comment for what it was - a request to come back safely.

"Dean? We need conversation aside from Quidditch in our dorm, and football's enough to catch our interests, you know..."

"Hogwarts really needs more sports than just Quidditch, doesn't it?" Dean replied with a small grin. He, too, could read Harry's words clearly. Being a leader of a group was no easy task, and he knew it.

"And Ginny?" Harry said, a grin playing at his own lips now as he looked to her. "There's no way I'm going to rescue your brother, only to lose you, is there?"

"You got that right!" she said proudly. "Besides, I don't want my other brothers to have to come after you, now do I?" She paused for a moment, and then actually stepped forward to hug Harry. "You come back too, hear?"

"Sure, Gin," Harry said with a deep breath as the four broke up. He returned to Hermione's side and gave her a large hug and a quick kiss. Seeing a few of the other couples doing likewise, he turned back to Hermione.

"Don't bother," she whispered before he could even open his mouth. "Don't even bother trying to tell me not to worry..."

"I wasn't going to!" Harry said honestly. "Actually, I was going to ask that you not stop worrying," he explained. She looked confused for a second before remembering their conversation quite from quite some time ago.

"I love you, Harry," she said softly.

"I know," he said, taking a deep breath and holding her to his side with one arm. "Trust me - it's been what's kept me going for quite some time now," he added. Dean, Cho, Susan, and Parvati walked up to him and nodded solemnly, and he looked to the others. "Good luck, everyone."

The six of them watched as Neville's group and Ginny's group disappeared into the night as they started towards Malfoy Manor first. No words were shared amongst the six as they waited a few minutes before starting to follow on their own, as well. Six wands were pulled out almost simultaneously, and Harry looked to Hermione once more before looking forward again at the sudden outcry of noise from ahead.

It had begun.

* * *

"There's the main walk we have to avoid," Lavender whispered to Neville as they crept along the edge of the tree line, the large black Manor now in sight. It looked ever bit as impressive as they had suspected it would, and they could see two guards on the roof pacing back and forth, watching the skies. It had been a good thing they hadn't tried to get a look at the place first. 

"Yeah," Neville whispered back. Julia and Terry had deactivated the severing wards just seconds earlier, but there was no time to rest. He then lifted a finger and pointed to the opposite side of the walk, and then motioned to Terry, Julia, Lavender, and Denis.

"Got it," Terry whispered back.

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" Lavender said in a hushed voice. "We have no idea what's by the main gates yet!"

"Trust me," Neville said firmly, thinking of his alternate form. "I'll be fine. But it's you four who're going to give me the support to get clear again, okay?" When she nodded, he looked back to the other three.

Denis braced himself against Julia as Terry knelt down to pick him up by the waist. A moment later found the young boy being thrown through the air to land on the other side of the wide marble walkway. He scampered over to the tree line on that side quickly, and a moment later found Julia floating through the air from a levitation spell cast from Denis's side. It was always easier and more stable to bring a target to you rather than away from you, after all.

Once Neville was on his own on the one side, they all started forward again. The already impressively sized Manor only seemed to swell as they got closer. It was easily five or six stories high on the outside, and with the strength of inner-expanding charms, could easily be two or three times that on the inside, too. There were almost no Death Eaters to speak of outside at all, but the cool chill that was suddenly biting at the air told them that it was still protected by powerful creatures nonetheless.

Neville tapped his wand to the back of his hand, and the other four felt the resonance of it through their own hands, telling them to stop. The main gates were clear now, and so were the guards. It wasn't just dementors - that would have been too easy, Neville figured. No, aside from the large dementor (larger than any he remembered seeing a few years back, anyway), were two large mountain trolls, complete with massive clubs.

_If that dementor manages to get away, then we're in trouble,_ Neville thought to himself. _It'll just bring more, and we'll be out numbered by dementors before we know what's going on..._

Noise and distractions were one thing, but bringing an army of dementors on site was a little more than he had been hoping for. And a Patronus would always chase off a dementor... _Wait..._

Pointing over to the bushes where he knew the others were, he concentrated hard on Lavender. "Accio Lavender," he whispered, hoping the summoning spell would bring her fast enough that she wouldn't be seen. He also hoped she would feel where the pull was coming from, and know not to cry out.

She landed on top of him a split second later, sending them both careening to the ground in a tangle. They said nothing as they helped each other up from the ground, and then Neville tapped the back of his hand once as he motioned forward to the guards.

Lavender nodded and pointed her wand towards the soul-sucking creature. She waited until she felt Neville tap the back of his hand for a third time before letting loose the powerful silver apparition - a large rabbit in her case - and sending it straight at the dementor.

The effect was immediate with a loud squealing outcry from somewhere inside the dementor as it turned to flee in the opposite direction. However, as it did so, Terry Boot's own Patronus - a large raccoon, of all things - blocked its path.

Without waiting to see the outcome of the battling Patronuses and the dementor, Neville leapt towards the mountain trolls. He started to change before his front foot had even landed on the ground during his rush, and by the time he had fully emerged from the darkness, he had become completely animal.

The large dog bear was almost half the height of the mountain trolls - which themselves stood well over ten feet tall - but that was only his size to the shoulders. Throwing his weight into the attack, Neville, as Prince, slammed hard into the first troll before it even had time to lift it's club into the air. The almighty crash as both careened into the main wooden doors echoed through the night.

All bets were off instantly as Prince landed on all fours on the ground again, only to push off at once to attack the fallen mountain troll. As he bit deep into the neck of the creature, he was torn off by the other one and thrown down the walkway. With a slight whimper, he pulled himself back to his four feet and shot to one side to get off the marble under foot, only to attack the other troll from the side a moment later.

The first troll lifted a hand slowly to its neck and pulled it back, revealing it covered in green slime. Not entirely sure what that meant, apparently, it hauled itself to it's feet in time to take the brunt of the crash from both Prince and the other troll falling into it. This time, the first troll's head caught of the stone, even as Prince landed on the same ground, only to find no traction on the ground anymore and fall to his side.

It was that very act that saved him, though, as the second mountain troll had just lifted his club to smash it down into the ground where the dog bear would have been, had he stayed upright. Instead, the large stone club connected with the chest of the fallen troll with a sickening crunch. Before he had a chance to pull the club back again for a second attempt, Prince had pulled back into himself to become Neville again. He pulled out his wand quickly and pointed it straight up at the wound he had inflicted on the chest of the troll.

Although trolls were even more resistant to spells than giants - a fact made up with lack of brain power - a simple cut was enough to open the floodgate on even the simplest of spells' effectiveness. "Petrificus totalus!" The mountain troll's arms snapped to his side so fast a crack was heard as a bone broken under the strain, and then it toppled over backwards, unable to move at all.

Neville stood gingerly, more than a little sore already, and shook his head to regain his senses the rest of the way. He nodded his thanks to Julia as she cast a Scourgify on his clothes, wiping the last of the remains off him before looking to the others.

"I don't know how you did that, but it was pretty wicked," Denis said with a grin.

"What happened to the dementor?"

"Oddest thing," Terry replied. "Once Denis added his - a hawk, thankfully, as it cut off the flying escape route - all three corner it, and it sort of... well, I'd be tempted to say it died, but I didn't think it was possible. Julia checked it out once we sent away the Patronuses, but there's nothing there."

"Deal with it later, then," Neville said, feeling a bit light headed suddenly. "Is troll blood poisonous?"

"Not violently so," Lavender replied, lifting her wand up to point it at Neville. "But it'll make you sick for a day or so if I don't clean it out. Vagnasum," she added softly. A light, gentle green flowed from her wand and coated Neville's throat for a moment before he turned and spat on the ground as a vile taste came to his mouth. When he turned back, Lavender was handing him a small bottle of water. "That should clear out the taste," she suggested.

Once he had gargled bit of a the water and spat it out, too, he handed the half full bottle back to Lavender. "Thanks," he said, turning back to look at the gates. "Now let's do this right," he said softly, looking up to the still sealed gates. They were expected to cause a distraction - while surely they had already done so to quite a large degree, it had to be a total route of enemy forces, to leave the path clear for everyone else. Pointing his wand firmly at the gates, Neville took a deep breath before uttering the only spell he could think of strong enough to blow them apart at the hinges. "_Kotes!_"

* * *

Ginny, Colin, Padma, and Kailyn had made it a bit ahead of Neville's group, and were crouching next to a door at the side of the Manor. There was an open window some fifteen feet above them, but otherwise nothing that could do them any good. The side of the Manor didn't look much more inviting than the front, either, but there was nothing to decidedly say that it was the hideout for the most powerful dark wizard in the world. 

Well, there were no signs that read as such, but it was fairly obvious otherwise. Although none of them actually voiced the question, they were all more than a little curious about the fact that no one had thought to look here just yet.

Ginny, as leader of her group, felt the taps from Neville's wand on her palm, telling her that he was getting his own group into position to strike. There was nothing from either Harry or Dean's group, but she figured they'd be a few minutes anyway, since hers was supposed to be the first inside, with the others following on the other side a few minutes later.

"Alohomora," she whispered, pointing at the oddly intricate looking lock. There was a bit of a rattling sound, but otherwise, nothing happened. She looked to the others with a questioning glance. "Any ideas, then?"

Colin waved his wand over the lock and whispered the same spell before looking back to her. "Yeah," he said easily. "It's been charmed to not react to any magic at all."

"Meaning what?"

"We need the key, or it won't open."

"What about opening it from the inside?" Padma suggested. "Would that work?"

"Most doors aren't locked from both sides," Colin said with a shrug. "I would have to assume it would open."

"So we have to get inside to unlock the door so we can get inside?" Kailyn asked. "They actually thought this through, didn't they?"

"No surprise there," Ginny pointed out. "What is strange is that this door is essentially muggle now, and Voldemort and the Death Eaters hate anything to do with muggles, remember?"

"Dark Lord's aren't restrained from not using what they don't like," Kailyn explained. "They do whatever it takes to succeed, even if that means using the one thing they hate most." She then looked back to the door, and took a couple of steps back to look up to the window. "If we could get up there, we'd be able to open it, right?"

"No problem," Ginny said easily. Before any of them could question that bold statement, she pulled in on herself and leapt into the air. Her feet and legs seemed to follow much faster than should have been possible, but by the time they realised what that meant, she had already vanished, to be replaced with Gem. She chirped to them softly and then flew up to the window.

Perching on the ledge, she looked inside carefully before entering, just in case someone was watching. Thankfully, despite how high up it was, it was still the same floor as the entrance, but there was an extremely high ceiling in the hallway that extended until the bend up ahead. There was no evidence of anyone at all.

Just before she could fly inside, a resounding crash made her almost loose her balance, and she clasped the window ledge with her talons hard to keep from falling. A loud outcry from inside told her that Neville's group must be causing that distraction. Hoping that it would work and draw off anyone who might have been near the corridor, she flew down inside and changed back into herself, landing silently on the ground in a crouch.

She stayed there for a moment, breathing hard and listening carefully. Upon hearing nothing but the sound of her own breath, she stood again and turned the latch of the lock, opening the door.

The others came inside quickly, and Ginny shut the door again, locking it behind them. "We'll try to use this as the escape route," she suggested. "So we can't give them any indication that we even know about this path."

"Hold up," Colin said softly before she could turn to keep moving. "What was all that about?"

"What?"

"The bird, Gin," Colin pointed out. "When did you learn how to do that? How?"

"Long story, Colin," she replied easily. "And now's not the best time to tell it. The night's quiet and we're in too much of a hurry to stop for a friendly chat!"

"I could solve that quiet night problem," Kailyn pointed out. "Actually, that might cause some confusion, too, right?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked in surprise. "Go outside and make noise?"

"No," Kailyn said, shaking the question off. "Of course not. But a good lightning storm would work, wouldn't it?"

"You can summon a lightning storm?"

"Well... there'll be rain, too," the half elf replied before turning to face the locked door again. She was spreading her arms silently before anyone could say otherwise or ask any other questions, and they knew it was too late. A spell with power to summon a storm should _never_ be interrupted part way through. The side effects would be completely unknown and potentially fatal to both parties.

Kailyn was muttering under her breath, so no one could actually make out the words she was saying until she finally looked up again. By this time, several minutes had past and the main gates had been shaken at least once more, if not completely torn from their hinges, but none of Ginny's group really cared about that right then.

Finally, she opened her eyes and pointed both hands skyward. "Lessan tebarewe!" Lightning and clouds seemed to pour from her outstretched hands and shoot right through the window. Mere seconds later, claps of thunder were clearly heard, along with the splattering of rain drops against the window, and then Kailyn suddenly collapsed to all fours.

"Kailyn!" All three of the group crowded around her to try and help. It really wasn't a good thing that their healer suddenly seemed to be in trouble, and was having trouble breathing.

"I'll... be okay..." she gasped through struggling breath. "I just need... a minute to re... recover... that's all," she managed. "I've... never cast a spell... that strong..."

"And you figured you'd test it here and now?" Ginny asked incredulously. "Are you trying to get killed?"

"Do whatever it takes to succeed," Kailyn whispered as her breathing started to get under control again. "I'm not going to kill myself, but if something I can do can help, I'm going to do it..."

"You're completely mad," Padma said softly.

"We don't have time to wait here," Colin pointed out, looking down the hall with a bit of worry. "They could start searching at any minute, and if we want to use this route as an escape, we can't be caught sitting here waiting!"

"Right," Padma replied. She was actually taller than Colin by a few inches, and she looked to him for a minute before looking back to Kailyn. "I'll carry her." No one had a chance to argue before the tall Ravenclaw had bent over and scooped the half elf up into her arms and was starting down the hall again.

"Come on," Ginny suggested to the shocked Colin. "We've gotta find my brother still, remember?"

* * *

"Alright, looks like that door's been left open," Dean whispered in a hushed voice to Harry. The group of six had stopped behind the only safe bush that surrounded the massive Malfoy Manor, and both leaders of the groups were looking ahead at the large black building. "Should we make a break for it?" 

"No better time, is there?" Harry pointed out. "Neville and his group have already started... anyone who's going to investigate will have already left." He then nodded to Hermione and held out a hand to help her up off the ground where she had sat down with the others.

"You know your first objective, right?" Hermione whispered to Dean. He nodded, and looked behind them from where they had come at an inhuman shriek. "Let's get going!"

Four identical black cloaks moved in the darkness, led by two dark green ones. Harry and Hermione both had their hoods up, but the others had them down so they could see better - they weren't used to wearing cloaks full time by any means.

The first clap of thunder overhead caught them all off guard, and they rushed inside and closed the door quickly behind them as the rain started, trying their best to avoid getting wet so as not to leave footprints. No sense leaving a trail to be followed, after all.

"Wonder where that storm came from," Cho said, shaking her black hair out once she had the door closed. "It was a clear night earlier."

"No time to worry about that," Parvati hissed, pointing her wand beyond the others. "Stupefy!" The red jet shot forth from her wand and struck a tall man dressed in black with a white mask just as he was about to pull his wand out to attack them. He went down like a sack of bricks, and his four comrades immediately pulled their wands to return volley.

"Protego!" Harry said in a loud, determined voice as he stepped in front of everyone else. His wand flicked upwards in a curved arc, and he held it pointing steadily towards the four Death Eaters approaching their position as three stunners and four full body binds careened towards them.

Parvati and Susan both stepped forward the moment the lights shot off away from them, and Hermione stepped out from behind Harry, where she had ended up after he had stepped forth to protect everyone. She knew it had been deliberate - he had done the same thing countless times in DA practice, and there was really no stopping it right then, either.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Stupefy!"

"Stupefy!"

Harry dropped the shield in an instant to add his own stunner attack as he waved a hand behind him. The message was clear to Dean and Cho - find them a way out of their current mess, before it got a lot worse!

Harry's shield went up again almost instantly, seconded by a mere second by Hermione's as well. There was a random ricochet of spells as they bounced from side to side before crashing into the wall almost soundlessly.

"Lumos!" Dean shouted suddenly, lighting his wand to full intensity before hauling back and throwing it as hard as he could. The apparent ball of light flew forward and shot right through the Protego shields of the Death Eaters, striking the closest one on the forehead. It had little effect - it was more for distraction than anything - but it was enough. "Accio wand!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted the word just as Dean's wand whizzed passed his ear. The wizard in front was blown backwards by the power of the spell, crashing into those behind him and knocking them all hard against the wall behind them.

"Stupefy!" The look of triumph was wiped from Harry's face suddenly as the red jet of light shot towards him from the wizard he had just knocked down. When the spell struck him, he was knocked backwards, but caught his footing before he fell. There was a lot of power behind the spell, but it apparently had little effect otherwise, as he kept his consciousness.

Apparently, he managed to catch the four Death Eaters just as off guard by such an act. Rather than attack directly, though, he pointed his wand at the high ceiling. "Kotes!" he shouted. A burst of white shot from his wand so fast it was nearly impossible to see as it vanished high above them. A loud rumbling told of the spell's effectiveness, however, and Harry motioned to everyone to run quickly before it was too late.

Harry vaulted over the four Death Eaters quickly, and paused as he waited for the others to pass him. Hermione was next, followed by Dean and Cho at the same time. Before Parvati or Susan could start, one of the fallen wizards groaned and started to get up.

"Punctum!" Harry said deftly. It was a simple Stinging Hex, but it caught the Death Eater in the back of the neck with a pain sharp enough to render him unconscious again. He nodded to both girls as they leapt over the four, and then they all turned to keep moving as the ceiling started down behind them.

Harry arrived at a point further down the path where Dean had halted the group. They had stunned an unaware Death Eater, and were trying to figure out what to do with him. Wordlessly, Parvati pulled out a simple spool of thread and started wrapping it quickly around the man. Once the full spool had been used, she pointed her wand at him and muttered something under her breath.

Instantly, the thread doubled and then tripled in thickness, nearly hiding the man beneath the now heavy cords binding him in place. "A simple transfiguration," Hermione said with a smile, nodding to her roommate. "Nice."

"Sometimes the easiest way works best," she replied.

"We'll go left," Dean offered, pointing to the fork in the hallway. "You guys check out right."

"You remember the call to get out?" Harry asked softly.

"Five pulses in the back of the hand, yeah," he replied. "We'll all feel it." Harry nodded and then stepped to the side as the four from Dean's team went quickly and quietly on their way.

"Looks like it's just you and me now," Hermione whispered to him.

#Yeah,# Harry hissed back, switching instinctively to the language that no one else would be able to understand. #Let's get going.#

The two moved in practically complete silence, able to thanks to the intense training they had received from both Talisien and Kailyn. Although not to either of their teachers' abilities, they were a lot better than they could have been otherwise.

#How big do you suppose the inside of this place really is?# Harry purred when they stopped to check around a corner before going on. So far, the place had been surprisingly empty, with not even a table or painting in any of the halls. #It feels like we've been in this one hallway forever already...#

#Voldemort sure likes his space, doesn't he?# Hermione purred back, a small grin on her face as she tried to relieve some of the tension they were both feeling. #What wand are you using right now?#

#My normal one,# he explained easily. #I'm more used to it for now.# He suddenly held up a hand suddenly, and she stopped instantly. He was looking for complete silence, so he could listen carefully, and she knew it. She wasn't sure if he was trying to hear heliopath again, as she now knew he had while they were talking to Ron, or if it was something else entirely...

"Come on!" Harry said in a normal voice, motioning them forward as he started out in a run, disregarding the noise he was making suddenly.

"What's going on?" she asked, listening carefully herself. With sharper hearing than he had, she could easily hear the sounds of several duels going on somewhere ahead of them, but not being completely used to the added bonus made it harder to judge the distance right then and there.

They came to a full stop as their corridor suddenly ended, opening up to a massive centre chamber. Along the edges of the chamber were three other paths, all of which had people in them already. Directly across from them was Ginny's group, and Neville's was standing in the corridor to the left.

To the right, however, was a slew of Death Eaters, and it looked like half of them were going to guard that passage while the rest emerged to deal with the two groups who had been there earlier.

"I've always thought your parents would be happier with their son beside them!" Harry pulled Hermione back into the shadows as the lead Death Eater stalked forward, even as Neville emerged from his passage on his own, as well. The Death Eater was walking with one arm hanging limply at her side, and Harry recalled Talisien's words suddenly - he had clipped her in the arm, but had been unable to kill her before she had vanished. Both the words he heard and that evidence screamed at him the identity of that Death Eater.

Hermione caught his arm before he could move forward to engage her as well. #We've got to worry about getting past them!# she hissed, motioning to the blocked corridor. #Let Neville get his revenge against her first!#

"Crucio!" Bellatrix LeStrange's high, harsh voice echoed in the large chamber, and Neville crumpled to the ground with a scream, halting all other thought processes. The Death Eaters at one side and the DA at the other, all staring in apparent shock at the two duelists in the centre of the chamber.

"Scutulatus contego separo!" Kailyn cried as she darted out from behind Ginny and into the main room. The silvery mirror-like shield shot out in front of her, and then twisted and flew across the room to end up in front of the writhing, screaming Neville with a loud crash.

LeStrange cut her spell off in surprise at seeing such a thing in front of her, and Neville pulled himself to all fours as he tried to regain control of his breathing. His heart was racing and the terrible pain was still recent in his mind... but he knew he didn't have a chance to just lie there and recover, either.

Behind the safety of the shield Kailyn had thrown at him - and he was vaguely aware of the fact that others had now joined in the fray, both Death Eaters and DA members - Neville focussed his thoughts inward once more. Surely she'd taste better than trolls, right?

With a near inhumane roar, Prince bound forward, knocking the semi-permanent shield out of existence as he leapt at his enemy. The large dog bear's sudden appearance seemed to be cause for concern as most of those left to guard the corridor emerged to help.

From the safety of not being seen just yet, Harry knelt down to the ground and touched his wand to the back of his hand, pointing an arrow in the direction of their destination. Across the way, he could see both Ginny in the middle of a duel with a Death Eater and Colin at her back start slightly before firing a powerful stunner to end it.

Pulling at Hermione's hand to tell her of the plan as well, both members of the duo team shot out of hiding at the same time towards the goal. Using modified Protego shielding charms - thanks to Snape once more - they made it without interception far enough down the corridor for the noise of the battle to start to fade.

Harry then paused for a moment and looked behind him. Hermione was right next to him still, pressed up against the wall with him, partially behind a large statue of a rather ugly old wizard. Across the darkened corridor were Ginny, Colin, Terry, and Julia, all pressed into a small alcove which made it easy to stay out of sight.

Harry's heart was starting to sound very loud in his ears as the crash of thunder echoes from somewhere outside. He looked back to Hermione slowly, and then at the ugly wizard statue, and then back to Hermione again. #We'll check to the right, and Terry and Julia can check left,# she hissed to him.

Harry immediately spun around, his wand out. "Stupefy!" he said clearly, sending a stunner at one of the Death Eaters who had followed them.

"Go!" Ginny shouted as she and Colin leapt out from the alcove. "We'll hold them off here!" Harry saw Terry and Julia dart down a passage to the left up ahead, and ran after Hermione as she went to the right.

He passed her in the hall as he practically flew forward. He stopped at the first door they came across, not bothering to even look further before kicking at the knob. The brass bent at the impact, and a second kick ripped it off it's placing, letting the door open.

"Ron!" he practically shouted the name, even though some part of his mind told him that there was no question about finding them right where they had. He rushed across the room as his best friend looked up in surprise.

"Harry?" Ron's voice was hoarse and even it sounded sore. He was tied to the wall, with both his feet and hands bound as well, and had several large bruises on his face. One of his arms was twisted at a terrible angle, but the worse part of him was his skin - it had taken on a pale green tinge, making him look even worse off than he probably was, which was really saying something. "Her... mione?" He didn't seem to believe his own eyes, and struggled to sit up.

"Yeah, we're here Ron," Harry reassured their friend. "Mione, can you help him any?" he asked quietly, looking over to her. She was in the other corner of the room where he knew Luna would be, and didn't look up at his words.

"Go..." Ron managed. "Help her first..."

"We're going to get you both out, Ron," Harry promised as he rushed over to Hermione and Luna. He had to bite back the sudden overwhelming urge to spew as he knelt next to his girlfriend, whose hands were currently glowing white as they hovered over the unconscious form of Luna Lovegood.

He had always suspected that they wouldn't be in good shape upon their rescue - he'd have been suspicious of what Voldemort had been planning if they had been. He just hadn't been quite expecting this, especially given Ron's condition.

She had never been a large girl, but Harry had the distinct impression that Hermione as Willow would weigh more than her. She had long red welts up and down her back, and both her legs were, without a doubt, broken badly. From the laboured sound of her breath, either the poison was getting really bad or she had at least one broken rib as well, if not more. Where Ron's skin had been a pale green, Luna's was even moreso, and much more noticeable next to the dirty blonde hair, too. Speaking of hair, though, there was very little of it left in her head - there were great strands of it on the ground around her.

"Harry!" Harry managed to pull his eyes off Luna with more than a little difficult at the insistence in Hermione's voice. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he said tersely. _Even in my dream months ago, she wasn't this bad..._ "What can I do to help?"

"I was trying to tell you earlier," Hermione said, obviously still concerned about him, but knowing there were more important things at hand. "I don't think I can heal this, Harry." She was whispering, as though she didn't want Ron to hear what she was saying, but the desperate tone in her voice was impossible to miss. "I think she's..."

"No," Harry said, cutting her off as he fished into his pockets. "No, she's not going to die on us now," he said firmly. "Not after going through so much." He held out a red vial to Hermione. "This is the Draught of Stability..."

Without waiting for any other words, Hermione snatched the offering from his outstretched hands and pulled the stopper out of the end. She let three drops fall into Luna's open mouth, and then moved the vial away and continued to pour, letting it drip over the top of the unconscious girl's head and then down to the neck, stopping finally with the last three drops in the vial over her heart.

The effect was almost faster than the application of the potion. Before the glass vial had even shattered against the stone wall as Hermione tossed it aside, Luna's legs pulled themselves straight and her arms snapped to her side as total rigidness enveloped her small frame from head to toe.

"Locomotar Luna," Hermione muttered, pointing her wand at the girl and lifting her off the ground. "How's Ron?"

"He insisted we treat Luna first," Harry replied.

Harry waited as Hermione fussed over Ron for a moment, arguing with him briefly before she simply stopped telling him what she could and could not do for either of them and just started treating him the best she could. It was decidedly eerie to watch a body float behind someone as though it was simply meant to be there, but he wisely said nothing.

"Let's get going," she said softly as she stood up. Harry helped Ron to his feet and pulled on of his friend's arms over around his neck to give him support to walk. "We've still got to get out of here for any of us to 'be fine,'" she whispered as they made their way slowly to the door.

Outside the room, Harry touched his wand to his hand four times in quick succession, and the sound of running footsteps was heard instantly. "You found them?" Terry asked, despite being able to see them. He held an arm out to support Ron from the other side. "Our passage just had a set of stairs at the end, and before we had a chance to start down, you called us back."

"Just as well," Julia added, taking over the spell for Hermione, effectively relieving both of the two DA members. "You alright, Ron?"

"Best I can be all told," Ron managed in a weak voice. "Luna had it worse than me. Are you sure you guys are actually here?"

"She's taken a potion to keep her as is until we can get out," Hermione explained quickly as Ginny and Colin joined them.

The loud sound of spells being fired off down the corridor they had originally come told them of the dueling still continuing. A tremendous roar suddenly shook everything to silence, followed by the sound of people running quickly.

"You found them?" Neville called, firing a stunner over his shoulder. One of his own arms was hanging limply now, but even as they moved, Lavender appeared to be working on fixing that problem.

"I'll take my brother," Ginny said firmly to Terry, looking carefully to Ron. "I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again," she whispered to him.

"Makes three Weasleys Harry's saved now," Ron hissed through clenched teeth.

"Don't talk for now," Ginny said, tears running down her cheeks. "Even though I really want to hear your voice, and prayed for weeks just to hear you annoy me, don't talk just yet... we'll get you out of here."

"Where's Kailyn?" Harry asked, noticing that everyone else had gathered in the dark corridor by the ugly wizard. Dean, Lavender, and Hermione all had Protegos up to protect the group as they figured out their next move.

"She disappeared in the middle of the fighting out there," Denis offered quickly. "We don't know where she went."

Harry closed his eyes, trying to shake the sense of impending dread that seemed to be building on his shoulders. "Alright, we've got to hope she's on her way out now," he said. "Neville, I need you and Ginny's team to get out of here with Ron and Luna."

"What about the rest of you?" he asked. "We're going to have a hard enough time getting out once - you guys are going to be facing a blockade!"

"We've got no choice!" Harry insisted. "Get down to the shoreline and wait for us there," he urged. "We've got a crystal to destroy if we want to rescue them properly!"

Neville held Harry's eyes for a moment before nodding and backing down. "Let's go," he said firmly, motioning to Ginny as well. "I'll provide the distraction again, everyone else bolt down the way Ginny's group came."

"Hermione! Dean!" Harry called firmly. Both shields dropped in an instant as they pulled back and followed Harry as he started to run down the passage Terry and Julia had started down earlier. "Get out while you still can! We'll meet you down there!" he called after those left behind.

* * *

Dean and Harry were in the front of the group as they raced down the stairs at such reckless speeds that, were they are Hogwarts, they'd have been given a week's detention for sure. The door at the very bottom swung open before they could reach it, but neither stopped at the sight of three more Death Eaters waiting for them. 

Bowling them down, Dean spun around and threw the sap bomb he had been given earlier. It struck true target as it erupted with the overpowering smell of tree sap, coating all three Death Eaters even as the rest of the group appeared in the doorway.

"Scourgify!" Hermione shouted from behind them before they could even try the spell themselves. The sap hardened almost instantly to near rock, coating all three of them in the clear solid. It was obvious that they somehow had air to breath and were still conscious, but they were completely unable to escape at the same time.

"Nice timing, Mione," Harry said with a grin as he stood up from where he had landed after the crash.

"You two were just lucky beyond words!" Parvati said before Hermione could reply. "Are you trying to get killed?"

"We've run out of time," Dean snapped back. "And if we want to get out at all, we're going to have to use some of our luck now!"

"There'll be time to argue later," Cho urged, pointing her wand at a nearby statue, animating it to leap into the path of an oncoming disarming spell. The stone blew apart as it was struck, only to have Susan send a stunner through the dust, sending their assailant to the ground in a heap.

"Stunners aren't enough!" Dean said harshly, pointing his own wand at the Death Eater. "We learned that upstairs, remember?" A loud crack echoed up and down the hall as he muttered a simple Reducto spell, with only enough power to break both the man's arms before turning to continue.

_I don't know if I should be pleased or not,_ Harry thought to himself as they walked over their fallen enemy. _On the one hand, he's doing just as I asked... but he doesn't seem to care about it, either. Am I just making them all into brutal warriors?_

#We're all doing what we have to do to get out alive,# Hermione purred from next to him, as though sensing his concern without him having to actually voice it. #Nothing more.#

#Thanks,# he purred back, bringing his mind back to the task at hand.

Harry pushed open the set of double doors at the end of the corridor slowly, and looked up and down them. There was a sealed door right in front of them, as well as a passage down either side.

"This place is just mad," Susan said softly. "It's nothing like the blueprints, and there doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to it! The place is emptier than a crypt, too!"

"There doesn't have to be any sense, though," Harry replied. Unlocking the door in front of them with the usual spell, he pushed it open too, only to suddenly bathe the corridor in a soft, pale blue light. He kicked the door open the rest of the way, revealing a small pedestal in the middle of the room with the glowing crystal they were looking for perched atop it.

"Great!" Dean said enthusiastically. "Parvati, if you would," he suggested, calling on his team member with the most skill in curses.

"Reducto!" she said sharply, pointing her wand at the crystal even as Hermione tried to stop her. The spell doubled back almost instantly, and it was only thanks to Harry's seeker reflexes - reflexes that had only been honed sharper by training of several different kinds - that he managed to push her aside and get out of the way of the blast himself.

Turning to follow the path of the beam, they saw it blow apart the double doors they had just come through before fading out. "Hermione?" Cho said her name calmly, though was obviously wanting an explanation.

"Normal spells can't break it," Hermione explained. "No spell that they knew of could, either," she added.

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. "When were you planning on mentioning that?"

She met his furious gaze easily enough, and he felt his anger being pulled out of him despite himself. "Your dagger should do the trick easily enough, Harry," she said calmly. "There's no worry or reason to mention it before, because you were always the one we had planned to destroy it, remember?"

Harry didn't answer her as he returned his wand to its place on his magical belt and drew his dagger. Stepping into the glowing room, he paused for a moment as he heard voices start to speak all around him. He couldn't understand what they were saying at all - which was really strange, considering his lyra abilities - but he knew what they were trying to do. They were calling to him, trying to entice him to the crystal with a pull so strong that he barely understood anything else for a moment before remembering what he held in his hand.

With that thought, the Oakrium glowed a soft white in the otherwise blue room and he took another step forward, lifting it up slowly. The voices were getting more frantic now, and he knew that they weren't directly affecting his mind, which made it even harder for him to protect himself. The closer he got to destroying the Crystal of Guidance, however, the more scared the voices sounded. Finally, one came through his senses loud and clear.

"Please... end it now..."

He drove the dagger home hard, point cracking through the orb in front of him as though it wasn't even there. It split in two slowly, and he twisted the buried dagger to crack it open fully. There was a scream of power and energy, and then the blue suddenly began to fade before a wave of... something flattened Harry against the ground after knocking him off his feet.

He found he couldn't move for a minute or two before he noticed other sounds. Sounds of rock and wood cracking, and terrified screams from above. He hauled himself to his feet with tremendous effort and sheathed his dagger again to help the others back to their feet as the ceiling started to crumble above them.

"Harry!" The entire group whipped around almost as one at the sound of his name being called, wands drawn once more. "It's Kailyn! Harry!"

The railing to the stairs shook suddenly and collapsed with a crash behind them. Harry looked to Dean and nodded firmly. His roommate hesitated for a second before nodding as well, and then motioned to the rest of his team to follow him. They ran up the stairs as fast as they could, leaving Harry and Hermione at the bottom of the Manor as it was apparently starting to collapse.

"Come on," Hermione said, running in the direction that Kailyn's voice had come from. "Let's find out what she's doing down here."

"Funny, aren't you usually the one who tries to analyse the situation first?" Harry asked as he ran alongside her. "I'm the impulsive one, remember?" She smiled and stuck her tongue out at him as they rounded the bend and stopped just before running into the half elf.

"I can't think of anything else to try!" Kailyn sounded completely exasperated as she turned and started back the way she had come, ignoring the falling plaster and wood chips that had settled in her hair already.

"What are you trying to do?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused by her behaviour by now. First running off in the middle of a duel, and now...

"Harry..." He turned to Hermione quickly at the hesitant sound in her voice, and saw her looking into the room Kailyn had just stopped by. He turned and saw a small bedroom with a pink, silver, and black colour combination, and a line of stuffed animals along the top on shelves. There was a large four poster bed with silk curtains, but that really wasn't what caught Harry's eye. Nor was it the animals falling from the shelves as the whole house seemed to shake thanks to having the foundation rocked by the destruction of the crystal.

It was the young girl sitting on the edge of the bed, rocking back and forth. She couldn't have been older than ten, if even that, and she was clutching a worn stuffed rabbit tightly in her arms, muttering to herself.

"Who is that?" Harry asked.

"She won't say," Kailyn replied. "She won't answer anything I ask, and she won't leave now. All she keeps saying is that she's safe in that room, and isn't allowed to leave."

"She's not safe in there anymore!" Hermione pointed out. When she tried to enter the room, however, something got in her way - some invisible force was keeping her from entering. "A shielding charm?"

"Best I could come up with," Kailyn offered. "But it won't hold if this whole house comes down on top of it. I tried to physically pull her from the room, but there's some charm in there that's making it impossible for me to try."

"So she really is safe in there?"

"From people," Harry said softly. "She's safe from people. Voldemort cast the spell to protect her in exchange for using the Malfoy house."

Both Kailyn and Hermione looked to Harry in surprise, but he shook his head. "No... no, that makes no sense. He wouldn't do anything to help his followers..." There was another pause, and he sighed. "The house won't stand this! If you don't come out, the room's going to come down, and you aren't safe from that!"

"Harry, what's going on?"

He shook his head, and nodded towards the girl. "Alright, fine..." he said slowly. "I'm going to cast a spell on the room, alright? It should keep the room together even with the house coming down... no, I don't know if she's alive or not, sorry." He pulled out the wand Hermione had given him, his time wolf wand, and pointed it at the ceiling of the room.

There was a soft pop as Kailyn's charm dissolved, and he muttered something under his breath. A second later, a shimmering bubble appeared to encase the room. "Bubble charm," Harry explained. "I figured that this wand seems to disrupt other things, so maybe it'll be enough to keep her safe."

"How were you talking to her?" Hermione asked, not understanding what had just happened. She jumped as part of the wall behind them started to give way, and turned with Kailyn and Harry towards the way they had entered the cellar in the first place.

"I'll explain it later," Harry promised, sheathing the wand at his side again. He was right about his wand - spells cast with it seemed to have odd effects at times that he didn't expect, and he had never had the chance to fully test it and be happy with it.

"It's time to get out of here!" Kailyn suggested, running and leaping over the pile of rubble at the base of the stairs. As she stepped onto the first one, however, it split beneath her foot, and she crashed through the next three.

"Kailyn!" Both Harry and Hermione rushed towards the unmoving girl, and turned her over gingerly. "Looks like a crack to the head and a good cut along the arm," Hermione said softly, putting a hand over the blood and concentrating.

"Don't push yourself too much healing," Harry suggested. "We still have to get out of here, remember that, okay?"

"I'm fine," Hermione said firmly, though she was breathing harder than he might have liked. "The blood loss has stopped, anyway," she added, wiping her hand on her robes and leaving a dark streak behind. Harry then stooped over and lifted the halfling girl up into his arms.

"Let's get going then," he said, skipping the first couple of steps and waiting for Hermione to follow before racing up again. Although she started out quite light, it wasn't long until she felt like a sack of bricks instead. Hermione was now in the lead and had her wand out blasting falling debris before it could get too close to hitting them, and so he forced himself onward.

Apparently Malfoy Manor had been abandoned by the Death Eaters, as they met no resistance as they burst through one of the crumbling walls after a powerful Reducto curse from Hermione knocked a hole in it. The storm overhead was still raging heavily, and a crack of lightning served to light up the now cloudy and dark sky. The shore was across a wide field, but neither let that stop them as they raced straight across it.

Harry collapsed to his knees upon reaching the rest of the group, and set Kailyn down next to Lavender and Neville. Shakily, he reached into his robes again and pulled out a small wooden box. "Alright, this is a teleportation stone," Harry explained.

"Less talk, more getting out of here!" Terry said loudly as several pops around them told of new arrivals.

"Make sure everyone's touching someone!" Harry replied as he dumped the dark blue stone out into Ron's hands. A glow immediately surrounded the group, but before it could activate, Dean suddenly cursed and pulled away from the rest of them, firing a stunner before running into the muddy field.

"Don't leave!" Harry shouted, only to watch as Cho raced after him.

"That's him!" she cried. "That's the one who killed him!"

"Bloody hell, I'm not leaving anyone behind!" Harry cursed, pulling away from the group as well to run after both of them. With a sudden whoosh of air, the members of the DA vanished into the night just as Hermione pulled away too.

"I've still got a portkey!" Harry said quickly as they started after Dean and Cho, dodging flying spells as they went. A quick round of stunners sent from both of them seemed to drop more people than they had expected, but both stopped and stared at the duel going on between Dean and another Death Eater.

A Death Eater with a silver hand.

"Reducto!" Dean's spell shot at Wormtail, who spun aside of the blast, letting it blow apart a boulder that had been behind him. "Expelliarmus!"

Again, Wormtail dodged the attack, and then pointed his wand forward in a jabbing motioning. "Doxer nifer!" A black smoke misted forward and surrounded Dean even as he tried to summon a shield that could protect against it.

"What... did you... do?" he struggled to speak as he collapsed to his knees, pulling at the collar of his robes with both hands as he dropped his wand into the mud at his feet.

"A simple weakening spell, mixed with a poisonous gas," Wormtail replied easily. "There's no escaping it now, mudblood."

It sounded odd in Harry's ears to hear someone other than Hermione called by such a term, even though it was fact. Dean was a muggle born.

"I'll... take you... with me!" Dean said fiercely as he fought with himself. He then abandoned his attempts and reached down for his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!" The green scream of energy erupted from Wormtail's wand struck Dean full in the chest, knocking him lifelessly backwards.

"No!" Harry shouted despite himself, and Wormtail turned to face him. "No!"

"A friend of yours, Harry?" Wormtail asked in an almost conversational tone. "No matter... you'll join him soon enough, don't worry." He then raised his wand towards Harry, only to be met with Harry bringing his up, too.

"You owe me your life, Peter Pettigrew!" Harry spat fiercely. "A wizarding debt that cannot be abandoned!"

"And you would kill me for it, would you Harry?" he asked, lowering his wand. "Your father wouldn't be very proud of that, would he?"

Harry took one step towards the Death Eater slowly, well aware that Hermione was right behind him, watching their backs as he watched their fronts. "I think my father would be proud of your death," Harry said in a harsh voice. "But I won't grant you a death today, Peter!" he added. "That would be far too easy for you!"

"No?" Wormtail asked, bringing his wand back up instantly. "Well, I offered my debt to you. There's no holding back now!"

"What about your debt to me, Wormtail?" All three of them turned quickly to find Cho standing in the muddy field, her wand raised and held steady on the Death Eater who had killed two of her boyfriends now. "What about my debt?"

"I owe you nothing!" he spat. "Avada Kedavra!"

"_Kotes!_"

The green and white energy shot past one another, neither wavering from their target. Harry had the time to take one small step towards his ex-girl friend and the Head Girl of Hogwarts before the energy stole the very life from within her, causing her body to collapse with a splat into the mud.

He had to bite back the bile in his throat a second time in the evening, however, when he turned to see what Cho's spell had managed to do to Pettigrew. She had never been able to pull it off in the DA before... trust her to get it right when it really counted.

When Harry cast it in the club, it easily turned bones to dust - a difficult procedure to repair, but a necessarily lesson for the healers nonetheless. However, he was always careful to only go for arms to keep the damage to a minimum. Cho was not so considerate of her opponent.

He doubted it was a painless way to go, but it certainly was quick.

Hermione suddenly grabbed at his arm, and he looked down to her with a weary nod. His blood ran cold, however, as he looked around them. Wormtail - or rather, his remains, completely with obvious silver hand - was plastered to the ground. Cho and Dean were both dead, and they were surrounded by stunned Death Eaters.

Harry whirled quickly and fired off three stunners and two disarming spells into the darkness of the night, and was rewarded with a squelching sound of someone collapsing into the mud.

"Stay behind me," he whispered as he drew his dagger as well just as a soft clapping started from a distance. Both Harry and Hermione turned to the sound, and froze at the sight before them.

Red slits of power were clearly visible even from the distance, and only became more obvious the closer they got. Coupled with the rapid lightning now going off as Kailyn's magical storm was starting to draw to an end made it clear what was going on.

Walking through the mud - or rather, gliding just above it, strangely enough - was the one person they had hoped beyond anything else to avoid seeing that night. With red slit eyes like those of a snake and a pale, drawn face, there was no other that it could possibly be.

He was shrouded in a black cloak, as they had expected, and had black robes on underneath as well. His wand was held loosely in his right hand, and he lifted it slowly towards them. "So it comes to this, Potter," the Dark Lord said in his high, cold voice. "Just you and a mudblood against me and my most loyal followers."

Twin pops of apparations brought a brief moment of hope to Harry's heart before having it crushed again as he realised who had appeared - just as Voldemort had promised, unfortunately. Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix LeStrange, both in their Death Eater garbs minus the hoods, were flanking the Dark Lord.

Harry could clearly remember his dream now, the nightmare from before Christmas where Hermione was taken from him by those standing before him now. Despite this fear, though, he stood as firmly as he could, trying his best to keep her behind him. "No one calls 'Mione a mudblood and gets away with it!" Although he was tempted to throw the Ancient line out that he had used before, he decided that he wanted real life to be decidedly different from the nightmare, so he held his tongue.

"Oh, ikle Potter's found a girlfriend!" the unmistakable insulting voice of Lestrange said from behind the Dark Lord. "Can I, my lord?"

"I believe Lucius has more of a say to her than you do," Harry said even as Voldemort turned to speak to his servants. The darkest wizard of their time turned back quickly and looked at Harry coldly again.

"You dare access thoughts from my mind?" Voldemort cried. "You dare speak my own words in front of me? Potter!"

"I will be leaving here today, too, along with the witch behind me. We will both live through this as we escape you yet another time... Tom."

#Are you trying to get him mad or something?# Hermione hissed from behind Harry, but he shook his head subtly to keep her from saying anything else.

Voldemort took one step forward, lifting his wand a bit higher as he did so. "So, Potter... think you've attained the power to face me in a real duel, have you? Calling me by that disgusting muggle name by mother gave me? You must _bow_ before me!"

Although Harry was sure he was supposed to feel some sort of urging to do just that, the dagger in his hand must have blocked it out entirely. "I think I'd rather not, actually."

"You defiant little halfblood!"

"Tisk tisk, Tom," Harry said, a sense of calm enveloping him that he in no way actually felt. "Calling me a term like that would make others believe you aren't the same. Half blood Tom... maybe people should start calling you that!"

"Impedimenta!"

"Protego!"

Although Harry put the shield spell up, the strength of the freezing curse was such that it tore right through his protection and froze him on the spot. "Now that Potter is unable to do otherwise..." Voldemort said slowly, looking to the two behind him. "Lucius... if you would..."

"With pleasure, my Lord," came the reply as the senior Malfoy strode past him. Hermione stepped out from behind Harry's still form to meet the advance firmly. "You have stood against me for the last time, girl!"

"Really?" Hermione asked, taking Harry's cues from earlier the best she could. Any time to stall, she realised, was more time for the Order to finally show up and get them out. "I stood against you before, did I? Honestly, it didn't make that big an impression on me..."

"Do not mock me, mudblood!" He stopped a few steps away from her and raised his wand menacingly. "I think the full power of what that fool Dolohov should have used on you before is in order... Shiec thrin!"

"Scutulatus contego!" Hermione replied instantly, sending her wand forward in a corkscrew motion. The silvery see through shield formed in front of her with a loud clang as the spell struck it, only to be banished immediately as she lowered it again. "Kotes!" It seemed to be the spell of the hour, in any case. The spell caught Malfoy senior in the left shoulder, sending him spinning backwards to land hard in the mud at Voldemort's feet.

"Enervate!" Voldemort shouted, pointing his wand to the sky above them. Hermione heard movement behind them instantly, and she turned to deal with it.

"Crucio!" Surprisingly, the spell didn't seem to have been aimed at her, but the sound of Harry screaming as it tore him free of the bindings of the Impedimenta wasn't much better.

"Stupefy!" she shouted, pointing at the Death Eater who was casting the spell, only to have him collapse instantly. His mask flew off his head, however, to reveal that this time, she had stunned Dolohov rather than just silenced him.

Hermione was suddenly struck by a banishing charm sent by Harry, knocking her out of the way of several bursts of green energy that would have killed her instantly.

"Can't win on your own, can you?" Harry shouted, whirling back to Voldemort and holding his wand and dagger firmly. "Have to call on your help to finish us of, do you, you sniveling coward!"

"If anyone asks, I'll lie," Voldemort replied with a sneer, pointing towards them both again. Harry turned to try and tackle Hermione to the ground, but knew it wouldn't be in time.

More than a dozen jets of green light shot towards her, screams of energy making it impossible to think, let alone dodge. Harry's voice left him entirely as he watched Hermione get struck several times before it was over, and she fell lifelessly to her back on the ground.

His knees buckled beneath him as he stared at her unmoving, dead form in disbelief, and he landed in the mud without even noticing. His mouth was hanging open and the rain coming down from above was getting in his eyes now that his hood had fallen backwards, but he didn't care.

How could he care about anything, anyone, when the only one worth it was gone?

His dagger fell with a plop into the thick mud at his feet, and he blinked almost in slow motion as his view of Hermione was temporarily obstructed when Malfoy bent down to retrieve the weapon with his right hand, his left being useless at the moment thanks to Hermione. He then passed it over to Voldemort for inspection.

Harry didn't react at all to the sudden, exploding pain in his right hand as his wand blew apart without any explanation. The phoenix feather core seemed to have little effect on staunching the loss of blood or the pain that he felt, but he didn't care.

He heard words being spoken, but didn't know what was being said. The rain drops were bouncing off Hermione's cooling cheeks, getting into her still open eyes... the deep, brown expressive eyes that he knew no longer held anything. He didn't know if there were tears running down his face or not... he couldn't bring himself to care either way.

He looked up slowly as Malfoy was standing in front of him again, the dagger back in his hand. "And now, you join the mudblood, Potter!" Harry started in surprise at the roar of pain as his own dagger was stabbed into the centre of his chest up to the hilt. Malfoy let go of it slowly, and Harry looked down as though inspecting the handiwork. Very little blood was escaping from the wound given how it hadn't moved at all from the deepest possible penetration, but the pain was unbearable.

"Mudblood?" he said in a harsh whisper, unable to manage anything greater than that. "You dare... mock her... even after death?" Harry had known anger before in his life - he had thought he had even understood rage at one point. He now knew otherwise, knew that this was the feeling erupting from deep within himself... he now understood just what rage felt like. He was dying, he knew it... but that didn't mean he couldn't take out the filth in front of him while he was at it.

He forced his legs into action, putting one foot squarely on the ground before pushing himself to his feet. The pain flooding through him only fueled his burning emotions, and as the dagger shifted with a ragged breath, he felt the blood starting to run down his bare chest inside his robes.

Harry didn't even think of reaching for his wand. Malfoy seemed surprised to see Harry standing, and starting towards him again, but Harry held up a hand that stopped him in his tracks. Green lightning was crackling to life all around him, jumping from his hands to the wound in his chest to his eyes and everywhere in between as he forced his emotions to take magical form.

"You will do nothing else, Potter!"

He heard the cry of Voldemort even through the rush of blood in his ears, even above the pain echoing through his entire being... pain from the dagger being minimal compared to the pain at Hermione's death. "Xitep ardkah!" Harry hissed out the words in the Ancient tongue, it being easier to speak than English suddenly. _You will fall here_.

A eruption that started from his eyes and rebounded from the wound in his chest and his outstretched hands blew from him, green lightning crackling with untapped power. To say it caught Malfoy in the chest would be most accurate, but after it tore through the pinpricked hole it first caused, it devoured him layer by layer - skin, muscles, bones, organs - until all that was left was a mess of missed blood and flesh.

The energy wasn't nearly finished there, however. It tore apart the Killing Curse that Voldemort had sent at Harry, leaving it as less than a scream before striking the raised wand of Voldemort. The holly and phoenix core erupted into green lightning as each were laced with the energy from Harry and the most feared wizard of all time cried out in pain as it grabbed hold of his arm and started devouring it, too.

With a loud pop, Voldemort vanished, leaving the green lightning with no outlet save the ground to tear into. By this stage, however, Harry was no longer watching it. He wasn't watching the disbelief of the Death Eaters around him, either, nor did he even notice the apparations of the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Collapsing to all fours, he was completely aware that now he was crying. He crawled through the mud and muck - the remains of Malfoy mysteriously burning up at his presence - and managed to get over to Hermione despite the increased difficulty in breathing and the building pain that was crippling his entire body.

Once he had straddled her, he leaned down and watched as his blood dripped down the hilt of his dagger onto Hermione's stomach, her robes having moved aside as though welcoming the touch of the crimson life flowing from him. He then leaned down and kissed her cooling lips gently, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to look into her dead ones as he did so. He felt his tears run along his nose and fall off to splash onto her own face.

'I'm sorry,' he mouthed to her, unable to find the strength to talk any longer. 'I didn't want this... I can't stop it now. I didn't want you to die... not before I told you that...' He stumbled slightly and rolled off her, landing in the mud beside her. 'Never... want you... to die...'

He fumbled for her dead hand, weaving his fingers with hers tightly as he closed his eyes to his own pain, it slowly becoming a distant memory for him as he thought about the time he had spent with the only girl ever worth it. "I love you..." He forced the words past his dying throat and out into the air. Even if she could no longer hear him, even though she could no longer reply to the words she had begged him to say... he knew it had to be said at least once before he closed his ocean green emerald eyes slowly and breathed out the only breath he had left in his entire body.

* * *

---------------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...**  
The Shadows**


	39. Or Did You Break Free?

Chapter Thirty Nine: Or Did You Break Free? 

It started with a cry of sheer terror, though it didn't have the normal effect on him at all. Usually, upon hearing one's best friend cry out in fear, one would wake up instantly and try to figure out just what was going on.

Harry Potter fought against that natural instinct with every fibre of his being. He shouldn't be able to wake up to a cry in the first place - not after willingly laying down his life so he could pass on next to the young woman he loved. He clenched his fists tightly at his sides, wracking his mind for any memory of just how he had ended up... well, wherever he was.

Keeping his eyes determinedly closed, he focussed in on himself, feeling the gut wrenching pain in his chest that had little to do with the grievous injury that he had taken there, and more to do with the large hole that had been torn through him at Hermione's death.

"It's okay, Ronald, it's okay." If Harry was surprised to hear Luna's dreamy voice still sound so dreamy, he put the thought out of his mind immediately. While it was good to know they were both alright wherever they were, he found that he couldn't really care about it just then. He wasn't supposed to be able to care about anything by now... what was going on?

"Wha?" Ron's voice sounded scared and tired, and Harry assumed he had just been woken up from a nightmare of sorts. That really made sense given where the two of them had just come from, what they had both been put through, but again, Harry found that, even if it was heartless of him, he didn't care. There wasn't much point in having a heart anymore...

He felt an overwhelming need to be sick suddenly, but couldn't find the energy to actually get up. Instead, he turned his head to the left and opened his mouth, letting his own vomit just pour from him. Although it was a rather disgusting feeling to have it pool next to his head, it was something else to concentrate on instead of the large ache in his chest.

There was no question as to where he was anymore - not really, anyway. The bed smelled strongly enough, but the fact that both Ron and Luna were in the room as well told him that they were obviously in the hospital wing at Hogwarts again. Someone must have found him and pried his hand free of Hermione's to rescue him... and when he found out who, he'd blast them apart for separating him from her!

He had been in the very bed he was currently lying in more times than he cared to think about, really, so he knew something was oddly... different, this time. He could feel his sickness dripping off the edge of the bed slowly, falling to the floor with a satisfying splatter, which made no sense at all. Madame Pomfrey always - always - put patients in the middle of the bed, so there was really no way it should be dripping off the edge already.

Slowly, he uncurled his right fist and splayed his hand against the bed carefully. His heart had practically stopped beating, and he was sure he wasn't breathing anymore as he dared to think something almost... positive. The mattress was sloping towards him, which he had expected, given that he was lying on the bed, but it was also sloped away from him... almost as though there was someone else in the bed with him.

Harry turned his head back to be able to look at the ceiling slowly, so slowly that he was sure neither Ron nor Luna - who were now whispering to each other about things Harry couldn't care about just then - could notice, and paused for a moment to listen carefully.

All he could hear now was his heart pounding in his ears, blocking out almost every other sound. He kept turning his head until he could look to his right if he were to open his eyes. He felt the cool air catch the moisture on his cheek caused by his own sickness, and winced slightly at the terrible feeling it caused.

He had hoped for a lot of strange things during his sixteen years alive on the planet. Hoping for a real birthday party from the Dursley's had been the first wish to be completely dashed. Later, after learning he was a wizard, he found himself hoping to be normal, to fit in amongst those of his own kind. That hope, too, had been dashed upon learning the true origin of the scar on his forehead.

None of that hope had been real, though, and he realised that as he kept his eyes shut firmly. How could it have been when now he was hoping for a miracle beyond all miracles... a gift beyond all gifts? How could the thought of being normal be considered hopeful when the thought of Hermione lying next to him, alive and well, was so much more important?

One green eye cracked open carefully, as though trying to gauge the situation before taking a full plunge. All he could really make out with the eye that was practically plastered to his pillow was fabric and what might have been brown, bushy hair... but he couldn't tell, because it was all blurry! If only he could see clearly without glasses!

Not entirely sure he was willing to face the all-too-likely disappointment if he opened his other eye and found himself alone, he forced himself onwards anyway. Even a chance - slim as it may have been - was worth taking to see his Hermione's face again as she slept next to him in bed.

His breath caught in his throat as he opened his eyes completely. It couldn't really be true, could it? He reached out with his right hand slowly and carefully, sure he must be dreaming - or possibly dead and this was someone's strange idea of an afterlife - and touched the hand he found easily on the bed. His heart soared at the surprise he found there...

Her hand was warm, and seemed to curl around his, holding him where he was even in her sleep. It wasn't possible, was it? He had watched as a dozen or more green jets of light had struck her... he had seen her dead, lifeless form, hadn't he? He really couldn't help himself, and he squeezed her hand back in return, harder than he normally would have. He had to have proof that she was still alive... that the beautiful witch beside him was exactly who he thought it was. Although she was a little blurred, he found if he squinted just right he was almost positive...

He barely remembered to breathe when he heard her moan softly, still too deeply asleep to really grasp the concept that someone had a hold of her hand. Rather than give up, that only bolstered his confidence, and he gave her hand another squeeze, more gentle this time, urging her to wake up and say... do... anything!

Hermione moaned again softly and then turned, rolling towards him to end up on her side. Even though it was blurry, he could see her open her eyes slowly, as though still trying to figure out for herself what was going on. The moment her eyes met his, though, she let out a tremendous squeal and launched herself towards him.

"Harry, you're finally awake!"

"And you're alive!"

Even if they were both practically shouting in each other's ears, it was obvious that neither of them cared about the volume one way or the other. He had his arms wrapped around her so tightly he was almost afraid he'd snap her in half, but her hold on him was equally fierce. He barely even registered the fact that he didn't have a shirt on - though he knew she was wearing her blue camisole, he could tell that just by the feel of it, without even looking - but neither fact was great on his mind anyway.

He was vaguely aware of Ron saying something to him, but he couldn't pay any attention to his friend, even though he hadn't seen him in over a month, even though he knew he probably should say something now that they were safe and sound again. But he couldn't... it is really hard to speak, after all, when you are engaged in a passionate, fit-to-be-tied liplock with the woman of your dreams.

Just when Harry thought he had never been so happy in his entire life, Hermione suddenly pulled away from him and made an odd face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, surprised by that look.

"I'm not that big a fan of vomit, Harry, not even my own," she said, a soft smile on her face. Before he could even reply to that, she reached over to her night stand and picked up her wand. "Evanesco." Immediately, he felt the sticky substance on his shoulder and the side of his face vanish, and knew that the rest that was on the side of the bed and floor had gone as well.

It was a few minutes later before anyone said anything else. Not to say that no one had anything to say... but Harry and Hermione's mouths were otherwise occupied, and Ron and Luna appeared to just be looking in the other direction, waiting for the rather affectionate display to end.

"This isn't a dream, is it?" Harry asked quietly as he eased himself into a sitting position and leaned against his headboard. Hermione pulled herself up with him and leaned against his shoulder after handing him his glasses. Rather than answer, though, she trailed one of her fingers down his chest, stopping in the centre. Looking down, he saw a jagged scar right in the middle of his ribs that was a couple of inches long. "I knew that part happened... but what...?"

"What about Hermione?" Harry looked away from the witch leaning against him in surprise to see Ron seating himself on the edge of the bed. He had already helped Luna sit down in the middle of the bed, where she'd be more stable.

"That too..." Harry said slowly, his senses coming to life again now that his mind was more at ease. "What about you two? You both look... well... fine!"

"Poison's clear and injuries have been healed," Ron replied quickly, not meeting Harry's eye as he spoke. "We're both alive and free again, thanks to you."

"That quickly?"

"Quickly?" Ron repeated, finally looking up to meet Harry's gaze. His friend's normally joyful, teasing look had been replaced by an almost haunted feeling. Harry had the distinct impression that that might never go away... but he really hoped it would before too long. "Mate, you've been lying in that bed without moving a muscle for almost two weeks!"

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head back to hit the wall gently. "I can believe that," he whispered. "I didn't think I'd ever wake up again, so two weeks isn't that bad." He paused when he realised that no one was going to say anything... that he was among his closest friends. "I didn't think I'd ever want to wake up again, either."

"Harry, no, that's..."

"The truth, Mione," Harry said firmly, cutting off whatever it was she was about to say. "I saw you... struck... dead... how could I go on after that?"

There were tears in her eyes, and Harry found he couldn't say anything else at that sight. It was Ron, in the end, who finally spoke up. "We've all seen things we shouldn't have ever had to deal with," he said softly. "And some things we will never see again."

Harry saw Ron's eyes flicker to Luna briefly before settling on the bed sheets again. She appeared to be looking all over the hospital ward, a look that he couldn't place at all on her face. Unlike Ron, she didn't have a haunted look about her... but something seemed decidedly off.

"Everything alright, Luna?"

"Hmm?" she asked, the dreamy touch to her voice still present. "Of course, Harry. Ronald and I have recovered our health, Hermione is alive and well, and now you are awake, too. There is nothing else I could need at this time."

"You just seem to be looking all over the place... what's wrong?" He heard Ron and Hermione's breath catch in their throats, and knew instantly that he had put his foot in something that they had hoped to avoid for a while longer, at least. He knew they wouldn't hide things from him for long, but this must be something they were worried about. "What's going on?"

"We... we should probably start at the beginning," Hermione offered into the silence that followed Harry's question. Luna didn't seem too troubled by what Harry had asked, but she didn't make any move to answer him, either. Obviously, she was waiting for either Ron or Hermione - who had known him longer - to make the first move. "And I don't think I can do that."

"How about we start right after you took off from the group?" Ron suggested, looking to Harry pointedly. Harry nodded and Ron took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "Mind you, I'm probably not the best to explain it either, but at least I was conscious the full time. Luna and I were brought up here as soon as we arrived, and Madame Pomfrey and Talisien set to work on both of us right away."

"Set to work?"

"Healing, extracting poison, you know..." Ron said a little uncomfortably. He went on after a minute and a couple of deep breaths. "Snape came up a few minutes later, muttering something about Dumbledore and nonsense, but I wasn't too clear just then."

"Taking this level of poison out of a body is a painful process," Hermione explained at Harry's glance. He nodded and looked back to Ron, who had his eyes on Luna at this stage.

"Talisien was working on Luna directly, as Madame Pomfrey said he was better at fast, in depth healing than she could manage without looking a few things up first," Ron said slowly, as though still not sure just why the decision had been made. "Anyway, I'm glad Luna was out of it, because like Hermione said, getting that poison out hurt like bloody hell."

"Sorry," Harry said automatically.

"For what?" Luna asked softly, looking to him. Her great grey eyes finally focussed on him, Harry saw that something was strange right away. The life that he could always see in Hermione's eyes... or really anyone's eyes he really looked at... was missing. "You saved our lives, Harry. You and the rest of the DA, but you lead them. It's thanks to you that we're here at all, still."

Harry looked away from Luna's gaze after a moment, and saw that both Ron and Hermione were looking at him again, as though afraid of what he might have figured out by looking at Luna. On that thought, he looked back to her again, but she was looking around herself again.

Ron started talking again, about the healing process and the DA all standing just outside the hospital wing until they were sent away by other professores, but Harry was only partially listening. His mind was racing as he kept replaying Luna's lifeless gaze over and over again. There wasn't much that could do that to someone, was there? What had happened differently to Luna than it had to Ron?

The bottom dropped out of his stomach as Ron started explaining the process of waking Luna up from her stasis sleep. That was what was different... the draught of stability used to keep Luna alive... side effects...

_... As it can have lasting effects such as dizziness, partial loss of hearing, or blindness... _Harry own words - taken straight from Hermione's mind - from potions class near the beginning of the year suddenly sounded very loud in his thoughts. "Merlin..." Harry breathed softly, closing his eyes. Ron's explanation suddenly stopped at his words, and Harry felt all the blood drain from his own face. "Luna... you're blind..."

Ron and Hermione both started talking at once, and from what Harry could tell, they were trying to make sure he didn't feel guilty for what had happened. Luna's lifeless gaze was back on him again, and he could tell that that was exactly what was going on... she couldn't see a thing...

"I am alive," Luna said softly, effectively stopping both Ron and Hermione's words instantly with her own explanation. "There were many times when I thought I would never get to say that again. As I told you earlier, Harry... there is nothing else I could need right now."

"But I gave you the... and now you're... oh Luna, I'm so sorry..."

Luna shook her head and smiled softly to him. "Not as sorry as I am," she said. "I'm sorry you feel responsible. But if you hadn't acted as you did... I wouldn't be able to say that I am alive. I would never be able to say anything ever again."

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly as an pain gripped his chest again. This pain, however, had nothing to do with an emptiness he felt, and everything to do with the injury he had taken. He let the pain grip him as he exhaled, taking it as a form of punishment for his actions, and once it had faded completely, he nodded. "We'll talk more about it later," he promised. Luna nodded, and Harry felt Hermione relax against him again. He had barely realised that she had tensed up, but now he knew what it had been about, anyway.

"Right," Ron said after a second or two. "Anyway, a few minutes after Snape finished with Luna, there was a big commotion by the door. Course, I didn't know what was going on until later, because Madame Pomfrey put both Luna and I under again to sleep and begin our recovery, but later I found out it was Dumbledore carrying you in, Harry. Hermione was right beside him, holding your hand."

Harry fumbled with Hermione's hand suddenly, and she clasped his hand with her own tightly, understanding his need for a sudden reassurance. "But..."

"I'll explain this part," Hermione offered before Harry could actually ask the question they all knew was coming. "Though I don't know all of it either."

"There's only one thing I want to know about that," Harry said easily. "How are you alive?"

"You don't care about how you're alive?" Ron asked with a grin - the first Harry had actually seen him wear since his rescue.

"I don't know how," Hermione whispered. "I remember seeing the curses coming towards me, and then a dark, cold nothingness. The next thing I knew was something warm and wet pooling on my stomach, something I later found to be your blood. I still couldn't move, but I felt a warm glow surround me before your tears hit my cheeks," she explained, bringing a hand up to caress the side of Harry's face. It was such a caring, intimate gesture that Harry leaned into it and sighed, causing Hermione's breath to hitch in her throat before she could go on.

"We've both heard this story already," Ron offered softly. "Either of us could tell it if that would be easier, Hermione."

"No," she said quickly. "No, I'm alright." She was looking right into Harry's eyes now, and he felt as though nothing else existed at all at her loving gaze. "I felt you kiss me, but I still couldn't move. It wasn't until your fingers found mine that I felt whatever it was holding me let go."

"So... you..." Harry paused for a minute as he remembered keenly the sharp, deadly pain he had felt at the thought of her death. He sighed and wrapped an arm around her. "I'm still not sure I understand."

"Dumbledore doesn't understand, either," Ron said flippantly. "If that makes you feel any better."

"I saw you get hit with the curses, though!"

"Would you rather I be dead?"

"No!" The anguish that poured from Harry's throat caused both Ron and Hermione to stop teasing him instantly, but he barely even noticed as he pulled Hermione even closer than she had been before. "No... I couldn't... I can't..."

"Shh," Hermione whispered, giving him a simple kiss on the cheek. "I'm here, and alive. Don't worry... I'm not going anywhere for quite some time."

Harry took a shaky breath before nodding and letting her go just a little bit, just so she wouldn't feel like he was trying to crush her or anything. "I know."

"So, you sure you aren't the least bit curious about how you're alive?" Ron asked. "Because we can actually answer that one!"

"I think I can guess from what you said earlier," Harry said with a shrug. "Dumbledore found me and brought me back here in time to save my life."

"Not exactly," Hermione said softly. "Once I woke up from wherever I ended up, I saw what had happened to you. I guess I should have listened to your suggestion about keeping my strength up - pulling that dagger out of you and healing you to the point where you could survive took every last bit of strength I had left."

"So you've been in here recovering as well, then?" It was a sign of Harry's deep trust for Hermione that he didn't question just how she had healed him - he had seen her perform strange healing acts in practice with the DA before, but hadn't experienced it first hand to quite such a degree as that before. The fact that she could heal an injury he was sure would be classified as a mortal wound in muggle hospitals was rather incredible, though.

"Not entirely, Harry." All four students looked up quickly to find the Headmaster standing next to Harry's bed, with Madame Pomfrey and Talisien behind him. "In fact, she even had the strength by the time I brought you in here that she could walk alongside us," Dumbledore explained.

The normal twinkle from Dumbledore's bright blue eyes was missing, and it was not something that Harry felt was a good thing. He swallowed hard and nodded to the three. "Good... er... evening, I suppose, Professor."

"I really must insist that we go over both of the recovering patients as soon as possible, Albus," Madame Pomfrey said softly from behind him. "It is good to see that they can both move still, but we must do a thorough examine to ensure their bodies have recovered from their ordeal."

"Indeed," Dumbledore said gravely. "It is the reason we came in the first place, after all," he added with a smile that seemed entirely too forced. "I wish to speak with you later, in the privacy of my office, Harry, after your release from here."

"I'll be there later, then, sir."

As Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore helped Ron and Luna back over to the other side of the room, Talisien walked forward so he was standing next to the bed. Before Harry could say anything to him, however, he reached down and picked up something off the night stand.

"This dagger is truly remarkable, Harry," he said in a hushed, almost awed voice. "For me, it can erect a barrier of magnificent proportions, burn away any evil it comes close to, and give me warnings of events to come. For you, it can seal your mind from any external force."

"I didn't know if it had been retrieved from the battle or not," Harry admitted, not willing to meet the elf's eye at the admission. To his surprise, Talisien laughed.

"I lost it a few times myself, Harry," he said with a grin. "But it always seems to have a way to return to its owner. The magics within almost seem to have a will their own sometimes. It does act up on occasion, doesn't it?" Harry remembered all too well the Christmas holidays still, and nodded. "It is my own theory on why your mate is still with us."

Harry instinctively held Hermione a little closer, but he knew she was curious about that last statement, too. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Magics are an incredibly powerful force... and blood magics are even moreso. Of course, that doesn't mean I can explain it any better than that. Let's just say this dagger - your dagger - and your own deepest desire could fuse strengths thanks to your blood." The elf then shrugged as he returned the dagger to the night stand. "Mind you, I could be wrong about that, as well. Magics over life and death are rarely simple to understand... and always impossible to explain completely."

"A gift beyond all gifts," Harry whispered more to himself than to Talisien or Hermione. "Talisien?" he called as the elf turned to either leave or join Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey. When he turned back Harry went on. "What did Dumbledore mean when he said Hermione wasn't in here for her own recovery?"

Talisien shook his head and turned, vanishing instantly to reappear next to the others in the room. Confused by the lack of answer, Harry looked down to Hermione, who surprisingly had tears in her eyes again. What's wrong? he asked with a soft purr.

They... they asked me to stay here, Harry, she purred back, clinging to him again. Not that I wouldn't have anyway, but they thought it was extremely important this time... that if I wasn't here with you when you finally woke up, that...

Harry silenced her fears with a kiss of his own. Thank you for being here, he purred, touching his nose to hers before leaning back against the headboard again. She pulled herself up a bit more so she, too, was against the headboard and just leaning into his shoulder rather than on part of his chest as well.

Anytime, she purred back with a soft smile. Just don't make it too often, okay?

Harry couldn't help the grin spreading on his own face at that. I'll try not to, he purred, closing his eyes slowly. He had his right hand clasped with both of Hermione's hands, but he moved his left hand, flexing it almost experimentally. It really suddenly felt like he had been bedridden for a few weeks, like they had claimed. He felt Hermione's head droop down to rest on his shoulder, and smiled as her bushy brown hair tickled at the side of his face. They didn't really have to say anything to be happy with each other... "Mione?" he called her name in a whisper.

She pulled her head back up and looked to him, catching his ocean green eyes with her chocolate brown ones again. It sent a shiver up and down Harry's spine, and she smiled. What's wrong? she purred, not reverting to English like he had done. Either she was still really tired - it was the middle of the night, presumably, given the lack of light coming in the windows - or she didn't feel like putting the effort into making full words.

"Nothing," Harry said softly, leaning down to kiss her again. Before leaving to rescue Ron and Luna, he had felt that kissing her was one of the greatest privileges he had ever been granted. Now, after everything that had happened, that feeling had only increased tenfolds. "We're both here. How could anything be wrong?"

Then what is it?

Again, Harry leaned down, but this time, he paused just before touching his lips to hers. He could feel her breath on him, a soft, gentle, warm feeling. "I love you," he breathed softly before capturing her lips with his own. He had meant the kiss to be simple and brief, but she held him there for a few seconds longer than that before letting him slowly pull away again.

I know, she purred, sighing as she leaned against him again, a soft smile on her lips and gentle tears threatening to spill out from her closed eyes. Harry reached up his free hand to wipe her tears before they could stain her cheeks, and she pressed into his hand. But don't worry, she added after a minute of silence passed between them. I love you, too.

------------------------

It was another week before Harry was finally released from the hospital wing. During that time, the entire DA had come up to see him a few times, though few words were spoken at all by most of them. This was probably because Harry had told them all up front that the next DA meeting would be immediately after final exams - which came as a shock to all of them, given how there were still six weeks left of classes. Ginny was the only one to ask why, but Harry wouldn't answer, even after repeated attempts, so she finally relented.

The fact that Dumbledore had not returned to the infirmary since the initial visit was a cause of concern for Harry, but since no one else either seemed to notice or think it was important, he didn't say anything about it, either.

Ron and Luna were both released earlier in the week than Harry, though they hardly seemed to leave the wing afterwards anyway. It was almost as if - and Harry couldn't blame them for this - they were scared to go out into Hogwarts again. Scared of almost any interaction with anyone save Harry and Hermione. Although they seemed to be slowly adapting, and Luna had really good cause for that, not being able to see anything around her, it was Ron who seemed to have the harder time of it. The bond between Ron and Luna had only increased since their kidnapping, and now there was barely any time when they weren't seen together - including at nights, when they stole back into the hospital wing rather than go to separate dorms.

Actually, it was due to this fact that Harry was quite surprised upon his release from the hospital wing. Hermione was going to class again - as were Ron and Luna - so when he finally managed to convince Madame Pomfrey that he was well enough to leave, he was hoping to manage to surprise her outside her classroom. That thought was dashed, however, when he found Luna waiting for him - alone - at the base of the stairs leading to the hospital wing.

"Luna?" Harry called, wanting to announce his presence from far enough away so as not to startle her. She turned in his direction even though she couldn't see him - Harry figured it was so she could focus her attention on him, even if she couldn't look to him - but said nothing right away. "Everything alright?"

It was the very question that had set Ron and Hermione on edge after he had woken up, but Luna, once again, wasn't fazed by it at all. "As well as can be expected," she said with a dreamy smile. "It is more difficult than I had imagined, though."

"I'm sorry," Harry said instantly.

"Not the blindness," Luna corrected him, assuming he was still trying to apologise for indirectly robbing her of sight. He had tried to apologise several times since waking up, but each time she had brushed it off, saying it was unnecessary. "Fitting in again. It is difficult."

"Oh," Harry said awkwardly. "Well, I'm still sorry."

"I know," Luna said with a grin as she turned her head as though listening to something that Harry couldn't hear. "Even though it is not your fault, you still feel bad. I do wish you wouldn't."

"Well..." Harry started, before stopping himself. "It's odd to be sorry for being sorry, isn't it?"

"Since we are both odd people, I doubt it matters," Luna replied. "But thank you anyway."

"So fitting in again is hard?"

"Yes," Luna said softly. "I can hear things so much better now, and I can hear people whispering. But it is Ronald that I am most worried about. I'm sure you know that very little can faze me."

Harry's thoughts were instantly ripped back to the end of the previous year, and how calmly Luna had taken all of her things going missing. "This isn't exactly some little thing, though."

"No," Luna agreed with him. "It's not. But I knew we would survive. An impressive lyra was out to rescue us, after all."

"I'm not about to..."

"Thank you," Luna said, cutting him off. The two stood in silence for a minute before Harry looked down to hall and started to walk before remembering that Luna might not notice such a thing.

"Shall we be off?" he suggested. Even if her hearing was better, after the training he had undertaken with Talisien and Kailyn earlier, his steps were practically silent even now. "I'm hoping to meet Hermione outside her classroom."

"You aren't curious about why I am not in class?"

Harry shrugged, even though she couldn't see it. "If it is important, I'm sure you'll tell me. But I'm not about to pry if you don't want me to." When Luna didn't reply, he assumed that that meant she wasn't going to explain after all.

As they rounded the bend by the Great Hall, Harry looked down to the smaller girl next to him. For being blind, she was moving about extremely well. Part of that might have been the fact that she had a hold of one of his arms, but she wasn't even tripping on the ground or steps or anything.

"Being blind is a far sight better than being dead," Luna said softly after a few minutes. The irony of her choice of words wasn't lost on Harry, who couldn't help the smile that graced his lips even as his heart tugged a little in pain at the thought. "Basilisks and medusas no longer hold as much power over me, after all."

"That's true," Harry admitted. Just before they started up the next set of stairs, Luna stopped, causing Harry to turn around.

"Could you find an empty classroom for us to talk in?"

Harry nodded without questioning her at all and brought her to the closest one he could find - Firenze's Divination classroom, which was currently empty. He only held class during late evening these days, which was another good reason in the long list of why divination wasn't that great a subject to take.

"What's wrong?" he asked her the moment he had shut the door behind them.

"Three people have now survived the killing curse," she said softly, her voice more serious than Harry could immediately remember.

"Three?" Harry repeated. "I thought I was the only one, because I'm not sure if you can count Hermione, as she seems to have died partly, but I brought her back to life again. And who would the third be, anyway?"

"Me."

Harry found a rock - that was normally used as a chair for students in the class - and sat down quickly. Luna found a rock of her own with her hands and sat down as well, but Harry was still shaking his head. "What?"

"I survived a killing curse cast by a Death Eater," Luna said. "He had taken me into the room they always brought Ron and I to each time they wanted to torture us. I guess my refusal to tell him anything about you really upset him, because he tried to cast the curse. I distracted him at the right time, I guess, because it didn't work."

"Just like Talisien said..." Harry whispered more to himself than to Luna. "He couldn't focus on his hatred." He then paused and looked up. "But I thought they needed you both alive until the right time, didn't they?"

"Oh yes, I heard he was killed when Voldemort returned," she explained. "Of course, I didn't know that until quite some time later - I passed out from the pain. That curse was why you needed to give me that potion, Harry. Talisien said you'd need a strong will... he forgot to mention a strong body, too."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry admitted with a nod. "But how'd you distract him? And why are you telling me now, like this, and not before in the hospital wing?"

"Ron doesn't know, that's why I didn't say anything earlier," Luna said softly, her voice losing the edge it had had while she described what had happened. "I couldn't tell him... even though I wanted to. He's already worried enough about me not being able to see, and if he knew that..."

"Alright. I won't tell him, don't worry."

"No!" Luna said quickly. "No, I want you to tell him... when you think he's ready. You've known him for six years, and I've only really known him this year, and a bit of last year."

"You still know him better than I do," Harry said slowly. Seeing Luna's determination, however, he backed down and nodded. "I'll tell him when the time is right, don't worry." There was a knock at the door suddenly, and Harry waved a hand towards it to open it. Such casual uses of wandless magics had really gotten simple for him, though he couldn't do anything useful in a duel setting. "You should remember, though, Luna," he said, not looking up just yet to who had entered. "Those who are blind are not always kept from seeing. They just see things differently."

"Harry?"

He looked away from Luna to find Hermione standing next to him, a look of amazement on her face. "Oh, sorry Hermione," he said, standing quickly and making to hug her. "I wanted to meet you outside your class, but then got talking to Luna, and lost track of time..."

"That's okay," she said as she returned the hug. "I'm just glad you've finally been released. We've got lots of studying to do before exams, after all," she added with a wink before looking back to Luna. "Now, what did you just say, Harry?"

"Hmm? Just something Talisien told me quite a while ago. Didn't make much sense then, but..."

"Those who are blind are not always kept from seeing," Hermione whispered, repeating his words. She drew her dagger from the sheath at her side and was instantly aware of all the magical energy surrounding her - she could physically see it. While not entirely sure it would work, given how Madame Pomfrey had determined that Luna's blindness wasn't a fault of her eyes, but of her optic nerves, thereby ruling out magical eyes, it was certainly worth a try. "Here, Luna."

Hermione took one of Luna's outstretched hands and placed the dagger, grip first, into it. The younger Ravenclaw jerked backwards quite suddenly as she held up her free hand to her face. "What is this?"

"What's what?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused by what was going on.

"You're seeing magical energy," Hermione explained to Luna, ignoring Harry for the moment. "Essentially, the different colours represent different strengths... or something like that, anyway. Whenever I held that dagger, I could see them, too, but I could also see everything normally at sort of the same time. I thought that maybe you could learn to see things properly with this... at least sort of, anyway."

Harry looked to the door at the sudden sound of movement, and found Ron just about to come inside. Harry stood from the desk and met his friend, stopping him from interrupting Hermione and Luna. "What's going on with them?" Ron asked.

"Something amazing, apparently," Harry replied. "I'm sure one of them will explain it to us once Hermione's done explaining it to Luna. But look, I wanted to talk to you first. I'm..."

"Harry, you're my best friend, but if you're about to say you're sorry about not rescuing us sooner one more time, even that won't stop me from hitting you."

Harry smiled and shook his head. "Sorry. Habit by now, I guess."

"Look, I told you, it's fine," Ron said. "I'm alive and Luna's alive, too. Like she's said a few times, we couldn't ask for anything more than that after what we went through." He then looked over to the two girls and smiled. "Even if she is blind, I love her more than anything. Speaking of which..."

"Yes," Harry said, cutting him off. "I have, don't worry." A smile spread across Ron's face, and Harry just shook his head. "Though why it's so important to you that I have, I'll never understand."

"Life's uncertain," Ron said simply. "There might not be that chance you're waiting for all the time. Do what you need to do first, before it's too late." He then shrugged towards the doorway, and the two walked out of the forest-like classroom, leaving the two girls inside. "She tell you yet?"

"Tell me what?" Harry asked, knowing he was talking about Luna again. She was right, and he knew that Ron wasn't ready to hear anything about the killing curse just then... but then what did he mean?

"That she can still see when she's a heliopath," Ron replied. "She tested it one night after Hermione had fallen asleep and Pomfrey was out of the room."

Harry made a mental note to thank Hermione at some near stage for teaching their closest friends to become animagi. "Speaking of that, Ron... I know this probably isn't the greatest of times to be asking, but..."

"Wardings."

"Huh?"

"We couldn't become our animal forms to try and escape because of wardings in the cell," Ron explained in more detail. "But the thought did cross our minds. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to hear you and Hermione, though!"

"I can only imagine it was almost as good as us hearing your voices, too."

--------------------------

With about a month and a half left until the end of the school year, it was no surprise that Hermione had Harry studying more than usual. He didn't even mind in the slightest, however, as it kept his mind off other things. He was absolutely dreading the DA meeting set for after exams were over... he'd have rather written a thousand lines for Umbridge again than have to go through with another sombre memorial service.

And just how were Dean and Cho's parents going to take the news? Would he have to be the one to break it to them, or would the Ministry or Dumbledore already have stepped in? Surely they knew by now, so why hadn't he received any Howlers from them yet? Dean's parents, he could understand, being muggles, but Cho's?

Under different circumstances, Harry would have found Ron's complaining comical. He didn't seem to think it was fair that he and Luna were expected to write final exams even after having been kidnapped - and, for his part, Harry agreed with that. However, as Hermione pointed out (her words practically mirrored by McGonagall when Ron asked her, too), that if they didn't write the exams when everyone else was, they wouldn't be able to pass the year.

Speaking of Ron, though, he was slowly starting to adapt a bit better to being in the crowded Great Hall again. While before the kidnapping, he was always one of the loudest students - and a prankster like his older twin brothers at heart - afterwards, he was quite a bit withdrawn. Luna, on the other hand, seemed to be amazed by almost everything around her, a fact that confused more than a few people, given how she couldn't actually see anything... Harry had never asked Hermione about what she had done for Luna, but he knew she'd explain it to him eventually.

On the morning of the first of the exams, Harry found himself alone at the breakfast table. Hermione was writing her arithmancy theory, and Ron and Luna were both in Herbology with Neville. He didn't know where Ginny was - she was avoiding him after his refusal to explain himself.

"May I have a word with you, Mr. Potter?" Harry looked up from his breakfast to find Dumbledore standing behind him. Glancing up to the head table, he thought it was strange he hadn't noticed his absence beforehand.

"Uh, sure," Harry said, noticing the still absent twinkle from his eye right away. He had a strong feeling that this was not going to be a good trip to the Headmaster's office. "I'm not that hungry right now anyway."

The walk through the school was a silent one, and Harry could almost physically feel the tension between the Headmaster and himself. He stole one glance up to the taller wizard and saw a hard edge to his jaw, as though he was actually working on keeping his mouth shut rather than speak in the halls about whatever was on his mind.

Although it probably shouldn't have been that obvious to him, the first thing Harry noticed was Fawkes's absence from the office. Dumbledore took a seat behind his desk, and after a moment Harry took that as a cue for him to take a seat as well.

"Mr. Potter."

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry replied in as neutral a tone as he could manage. He was a bit surprised by not being called Harry - the Headmaster had always called him by his first name, after all. Not only that, but there was no mention of a lemon drop or any other type of candy, either.

"Harry."

"Albus... sir."

"I trust the past few weeks have not been spent in vain?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"I decided not to call you in here right after your release from the hospital wing against my own better judgment," Dumbledore confessed as he brought his hands up to rest his chin on them. "It was suggested to me that it might give me a chance to think about what I was to do, and perhaps give you a chance to think about what happened, as well."

"To be honest, sir, I'm still not entirely clear on just what _did_ happen in the end."

"Where does your memory fade?"

"It doesn't," Harry said quickly, correcting his meaning the best he could. "It's just... after Hermione was hit with all those curses, nothing but the sight of her just lying there comes to mind. Everything else is a total blank."

Dumbledore nodded and brought his hands down again, showing his lips to be tightly drawn. "I was told that that might have been enough to show you the error of your actions."

"Error?" Harry repeated. "Maybe things could have been carried out in a better fashion, but I still do not feel that I acted in error by going to rescue Ron and Luna like I did."

"Then you would do it again if you had to?"

"I'm not going to leave anyone to rot in some dungeon if I can help it!" Harry said forcefully. "And I'm not about to let Voldemort get any more power than he already has!"

Dumbledore had stood up quite forcefully at the beginning of Harry's words, and the young Gryffindor had felt the air suddenly alive with untold magics, reminding him of just why Dumbledore was easily considered to be the most powerful wizard alive. However, that rush of energy suddenly stopped as the aged wizard put both hands on the desk and looked at Harry again, confused this time. "What?"

"If I hadn't acted when I did," Harry started, purposefully taking all the blame for the entire DA to keep everyone else out of trouble. "The Voldemort would have sacrificed them to that bloody crystal and destroyed Hogwarts and everyone in it!"

Harry suddenly met Dumbledore's gaze perfectly, and he had the distinct impression that the Headmaster was trying to read his thoughts, like he was sure he had done in the past. Harry's hand immediately went to the hilt of his dagger as he closed his eyes. "Where did you learn of that? How?"

That threw Harry's reply right out the window. "What?"

"How did you know what that crystal could be used for? No one in the Ministry of Magic has ever figured it out... I had thought it was some sort of powerful crystal ball for use with ancient divination practices."

"You didn't know about the sacrificial ritual?"

"Where did you hear that? What makes you believe it?"

"I..." Harry paused for a moment. Why hadn't Snape gone to Dumbledore with that information? Wasn't he supposed to tell the Headmaster everything? "I can't answer that, sir."

"And why not?"

"It isn't my place to say." Harry swallowed hard, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with everything that had happened in the office so far. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew, and just didn't want to risk acting anyway."

"If I ever thought that Tom could have used that to gain even more power, I would have acted immediately with everything I could have mustered!" Dumbledore replied, sitting down slowly. "Are you sure the information was accurate?"

"I didn't learn it through my connection to him," Harry said quickly, tapping his forehead - and more specifically his scar. "It hasn't acted up at all since Talisie... er... Professor Talisien gave me his dagger."

"So you acted on a simple thought, without any verification?" The edge was still present in his voice, and Harry winced a little. "You lead a group of fifteen other students on an excursion off grounds with little to no proof as to what Voldemort could do on just a thought?"

"It was right," Harry said firmly. "I destroyed the Crystal of Guidance with my dagger, but before that, I could hear it trying to speak to me... trying to get me to obey it's wishes. I'm sure that the only reason I could is because of the part of me that houses Voldemort's power transfer - sort of like why I'm a parselmouth - but I have no doubt about what it could have been used for."

Dumbledore sighed and leaned forward again, looking suddenly tired. "Two students are dead," he said in a hard voice. "Eight more needed medical attention to remove serious curse effects that were improperly healed, and one other student almost died. What gave you the right to play with their lives like they were chess pieces? How could you have done that on just a thought?"

"Just a thought?" Harry demanded, standing to face the man rather than remain seated. "Is that what you think? I took them all out to face death head on because I didn't like what was served for breakfast?" He turned away and walked over to Fawkes's empty cage. "I tried to talk them all out of it. If I had asked anymore, then they probably would have just left without me."

He took a deep breath and turned around, the hood to his cloak rising of its own accord. Irritably, he pushed it back down again, but not before noticing the glow his eyes seemed to be causing through his heightened emotions. "I suppose I can finally understand what it's like to be you, sir."

He couldn't help it, really. The anger that was flowing through him at Dumbledore's accusation was making him say all the wrong things... he knew if he took a moment to think, then maybe they would both calm down. He turned to leave the office without another word, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

Harry turned back in surprise, only to be enveloped by an odd, awkward embrace from Dumbledore. "I am sorry, Harry," Dumbledore said in a soft, tired voice as he released him and moved around behind his desk again. Harry didn't make another move towards the door, but he didn't go sit down again right away, either. "I have had a difficult time trying to explain your actions to the Ministry and to the Board of Governors. It was especially difficult because I agreed with them - I believed you acted recklessly and willingly endangered the lives of other students of this school."

"They're trying to get me expelled, are they?"

"The Governors, yes - not that they will succeed, however. But the Ministry is concerned with something else..." Dumbledore admitted. "They just need an explanation... they need to know why Malfoy Manor was reduced to rubble and only one room was spared, and they need to know what happened to Voldemort."

"He doesn't have a wand anymore," Harry said suddenly. "I just remembered that... his wand blew apart. He destroyed mine... and then I destroyed his."

"How?"

Harry shook his head and moved to sit down again. "I don't know," he admitted, reaching for one of the sweets that was suddenly being offered. "I just remember a blinding hatred... a rage more powerful than anything I can recall otherwise. He had just killed Hermione... well, sort of, and..."

"Actually, he did kill her," Dumbledore said softly when Harry trailed off. "Gringotts sent her account information to her parents - a fact only done when the life of a wizard or witch is ended, and done without fail. That was a mess to clean up, let me assure you."

"They know she's okay, though, right?"

"They have seen her since then," Dumbledore said. "While you were still unconscious."

"Do you know what happened, sir?"

Dumbledore sighed and looked away from Harry. "Magic over life and death is rarely simple to..."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said with a sigh, cutting him off from repeating Talisien's earlier words, even if he didn't know it. "The fact that she is alive is enough for me anyway. I was just wondering if you thought it possible to repeat the procedure."

"You are thinking of Mr. Thomas and Miss. Chang?" Harry nodded and Dumbledore took his glasses off his face. "They have left us already," he explained. "And I do not think you could have brought them back anyway. There is a good chance that every step that you took after her death was directly involved with bringing her back, and I doubt it could be repeated even if you could remember it all."

The memory of kissing her then dead-cold lips flashed through Harry's mind, and he had to admit that Dumbledore was completely right. "I'm sorry."

"So am I, Harry," Dumbledore said. "So am I." He then paused as he put his glasses back on his face to look at Harry again. "I have a request to make of you, Harry. One that I feel is necessary for you to agree to."

"An order, then?"

"No," Dumbledore said firmly, holding a hand out to the Gryffindor. "An agreement. One does not order a friend and ally around." Harry took the offered hand a little hesitantly, not sure where this was all going just yet. "In the future, if you have information like you did this time, please pretend that I know absolutely nothing about it and tell me everything. The truth is a powerful tool, Harry, as I think you know well."

Harry couldn't help but think of the irony of that statement. Last year, it had been him asking for the truth, and this year it was Dumbledore. "I can live with that," he said with a small grin. "So... is everything alright, then?"

"I wish above and beyond anything else that you did not have to be involved in this war, Harry," Dumbledore replied. "But, seeing as how it is necessary, I must say that I am pleased to see you actively seeking to be involved, and not being forced into it."

"What can I say?" Harry said with a shrug. "I've been told I have a 'saving-people' thing."

"Indeed?" Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow. "I can not imagine what would prompt someone to think that..."

There was a small silence then, during which time Harry stood up again. "For what it's worth, I am sorry about how things turned out."

The Headmaster nodded and stood up himself. "Oh, one more thing, Harry."

"Yes?"

"Why did you never respond to my query earlier in the year?" At Harry's blank stare, Dumbledore sighed. "I should have known you would not have opened any package from me at that time... another failing of old age, I suppose."

Harry suddenly remembered, however vaguely, a small package landing on his desk over the summer while he was still at the Dursley's. A package he had tossed aside in front of Rozan. "What was that all about, anyway?"

"I was attempting to make up for a mistake from the year before," Dumbledore explained as he opened the door for Harry and then the two started down together. "And so I was asking for your opinion on which of the fifth year students should be approved as prefects, as well as your thoughts on Head Boy and Girl."

"So that's why the decision was made so late this year... I'll admit, I was curious."

They both stopped as the large stone gargoyle spun around to reveal the normally empty hallway. Harry was surprised to find Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny all waiting for him. Not that it was surprising to necessarily find Hermione there, given how she always seemed to be able to find him no matter what was going on, but the others, too...

"We'll take the same punishment as Harry," Hermione said when the two stopped in front of them. "We've all decided that it would only be fair."

"Only fair?" Dumbledore asked, the twinkle returning to his eyes slowly as he sneaked a peek to Harry before looking back to the others. "Even though Mr. Weasley and Miss. Lovegood were victims and had no part in the rescue?"

"We're not about to abandon him, sir," Luna said softly, looking at him with an odd gaze. Harry only then noticed that she was looking all around her again as though taking in something new... but was that really possible? She was blind, but could see? He'd have to ask Hermione as some point just what she had done for the blind girl by giving Luna the dagger he had given her. "After all, he did not abandon us, either."

"And if it were deemed necessary to expel him, then?"

"With all due respect, Professor Dumbledore." Hermione's voice was quite calm in light of such a threat. Harry could keenly remember a time when such a thing would have made her lose her mind, and couldn't help but smile at how she was taking it now. "You are neither foolish nor completely mad, and Harry is standing beside you without so much as a trace of anger in him," she added catching Harry's eyes for a moment before looking back to him. "All of which points to the fact that he hasn't been expelled, at least."

"Your logic appears to be completely in tact, Miss. Granger. I suppose you already know the outcome of our meeting upstairs, then?" Hermione shook her head and looked a little contrite at his words. "Ah, forgive me. I wasn't sure if you had developed some method of listening in that I had been unable to detect. You will be pleased to know that Harry is only to be punished by himself... even though I have tried to dissuade that, as well."

All five of the other students looked to Harry, and he sighed and shook his head. "Guilt doesn't just go away, no matter what anyone says."

"Unfortunate, but true," Dumbledore said seriously. "However, I will take my leave of you all now... it has been quite some time since I've sat in on one of Professor Flitwick's third year exam, though it is often quite enjoyable..." He turned before anyone could say anything and started off down the hall.

Once he had disappeared down the bend, Ginny whirled on Hermione. "Are you trying to get in trouble or something?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked as Harry took a step towards her and put an arm around her.

"You practically called him mad back there!"

"I said not completely, didn't I?"

"He's admitted to being partially mad before," Harry pointed out. "So don't worry about it. Besides, I think we all are a bit mad, in our own ways. Wouldn't you agree, Luna?"

"Oh no," she said, looking to him again. Her eyes were no longer completely lifeless... but they weren't their usual grey, either. Instead, they seemed to be quite a bright shade of green - so bright the colour was bordering on white instead, something that he'd also have to ask about later. "None of us are mad at all. It's just the rest of the world who is."

----------------------------

"Might I have a brief word with you, Harry?"

Harry and Hermione both turned in surprise to find their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor leaning against the doorway of their potions classroom. They had just finished writing the theory portion of the exam - or more aptly, Harry had just finished, but Hermione had been waiting outside the class for him - and were about to return to the Gryffindor Common Room to start going over things for that very class.

"Yeah, sure," Harry said with a shrug. "What do you need?"

"I apologise Miss. Granger... but I must ask to speak with him alone this one time," Talisien said with a nod to her. "He can catch up with you in a bit, I'm sure."

Hermione hesitated just a moment before Harry nodded that it would be fine, and then she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading off down the hall. Talisien turned and started walking in the opposite direction, and Harry hurried not to be left behind.

Nothing was said between the two of them for a few minutes, and then Harry had the distinct impression that the elf was waiting for him to speak, first. "What's going on, Talisien?"

"Several things," Talisien said after another moment. "First, I was wondering how you were holding up with what happened."

Harry felt his heart drop, and he looked down to the ground as they kept moving. "As best I can, I guess."

"Taking of a life is not an easy thing, even if it is on a battlefield."

"A life?" Harry repeated in surprise, stopping and looking to the elf. "What do you mean?"

Talisien sighed and motioned for him to keep moving. "They did warn me that you had blanked out a few things just before passing out, but I wasn't sure what that entailed. Tell me, Harry... is there anyone missing at school who shouldn't be?"

"Besides Dean and Cho, you mean?"

"You know where they are already."

"Not really," Harry countered. "I just know that they are dead."

"Fair enough," Talisien replied with a nod. "Anyone else, though?"

Harry thought about it for a minute, and stopped at the base of a set of stairs, even as the elf kept moving. "Malfoy... he's not here. What happened to him?"

"He wrote his exams early," Talisien explained. "He had a good reason, and needed to leave as soon as possible, so his Professors arranged it."

"So why were you asking me about his absence, then?"

"Why do you think he had to leave?"

"So he could kiss up to his dear daddy's..." Harry suddenly froze as the image of the elder Malfoy being torn apart piece by piece flashed through his mind, and he turned to the side of the hall and emptied his stomach. "By Merlin's grace..."

He felt Talisien's hand on his shoulder, and that was what let loose the torrents of emotions... the dam broke and Harry collapsed on the ground. "I am sorry to have forced you to remember, Harry," Talisien said softly. "But it is best not to ignore your past."

"I killed him!" Harry managed in a hoarse whisper. "There's nothing left of him anymore! He's just..."

"It is not murder, Harry."

He struggled for a moment before nodding and looking up to the elf. He was surprised to see Talisien had taken his hood down, but that wasn't exactly on the forefront of his mind anyway. "It was in a blinding rage, Talisien."

"I thought as much," Talisien replied. "Which is not an easy thing to come to terms with."

"It thought it was going to be the last thing I ever did... how could I do that? That's not me - it can't be! I'm not that violent, that brutal! I'm not dark!"

"Of course you aren't, Harry." There was something in Talisien's tone that caught him off guard, and he forced his own thoughts back so he could focus on it. "You acted as one who loves will always act. It is a great strength, but can be a great weakness as well. Love and hate... life and death... two of the greatest forces in the universe, but neither can exist without the other. Just like light and shadows. The difference between love and hate is how they can control your life - one who loves is capable of hatred, but one bent on pure hatred is incapable of even understanding love."

It took a bit of work, but Harry somehow managed to get turned around so he could sit on the ground far enough away from his mess to avoid sitting in it. Slowly, he leaned back until his head was against the rock, but he just closed his eyes and didn't say anything - he was just focussing on breathing properly.

"You are not a dark wizard," Talisien said softly as he stood up. Harry had the distinct impression that the elf was almost standing guard over him as he recovered, but he didn't say anything about it. "A dark wizard like Voldemort has no remorse... no fears of killing others. Not only that, but he will never hesitate killing if he warrants it would be worthwhile."

_Kill the spare!_

Harry shuddered as that memory coursed through him, and he forced his eyes open so he wouldn't have to see the memory of Cedric lying spread eagle on the ground in front of him. "How did you handle it?"

Talisien shook his head and held out a hand to Harry. While he suspected that meant the answer wasn't easy or couldn't be explained, he knew he wouldn't find out either way if he didn't accept the offer to help him stand again. When they started walking through the empty halls again, it was at a much slower pace, and only after Harry had keeping up his vomit with a quick vanishing spell. "It was a terrible slaughter," Talisien said, his voice suddenly toneless as they walked. "Neither fast, nor painless... but easy to understand. There were no magics involved... just the very sharp edge of my sword. Afterwards, I could barely remember it either - but it came back a few days later just what I had done. It was only with Fey's assistance that I got through it... she continuously reminding me just why I had acted that way. Rape and murder of what you would call my god daughter..."

"So I should talk to Hermione?"

"You should always talk to your friends, Harry. Remember, everything that happens does not happen to just you alone."

"I know that," Harry said irritably, shaking his head. Talisien didn't reply to that at all, but did hold the door open to the top of the tower they had just climbed. Looking around on the parapet, Harry found that they had somehow managed to get above the large bells of the school - a place he had never really found before (though to be honest, he hadn't looked that hard, either.

The school grounds were warmer now as June was just starting, and the grass was rich with green, while the forest had never looked better. The wind was soft and gentle, and Harry couldn't help but feel it wash some of his worries away.

"I would like you to take your NEWT level examination this year."

Harry spun around to face his professor quickly, and found him leaning against the wooden doorway, looking at him carefully. "Come again?"

"I do not believe that is necessary," Talisien said with a soft smile. "As you understood what I said perfectly well."

"Why, though? Won't that just make a mess of next year?"

"It may... telling the future is not a field I embark on lightly, so I won't consider it at this time either." Talisien walked forward and put his hands on the stone barrier that was acting as a half wall to keep them both from walking off the edge. "I'm leaving at the end of this year, as I'm sure you remember."

"Yeah," Harry admitted. "I remembered. Are you worried about the teacher next year, and just want to spare me the trouble of facing whoever's hired?"

"That is not really a concern of mine," Talisien said. "But I would like to offer something to you... and I would be unable to do so unless you had completed your NEWT level theory and practical exams." At Harry's blank stare, the elf smiled and looked away and out to the Forbidden Forest. "I would like to train you personally for a time during the summer at your home."

"At Grimmauld Place? Just me?"

"Indeed."

"Why?"

Talisien sighed and shook his head. "I can't explain why right now... I'm sorry. But it would be in your best interest to agree."

"Of course I will!" Harry said. "I'm not mad! I know I need more training, serious training! There's no way I can defeat Voldemort without it."

"There is a catch."

That brought Harry crashing back to earth quickly enough, and he looked back to the elf quickly. "What is it?"

"You can tell no one until after my training has already begun."

"No one?" Harry couldn't imagine trying to keep a secret like that from Hermione. "I don't know if that's even possible. There are other sixth years going through this exam, remember? Speaking of that, how am I supposed to take a NEWT level exam with just sixth year stuff?"

"I promised that everyone taking OWLs or NEWTs would perform very well indeed so long as they paid attention in class, did I not?" Talisien asked, an odd twinkle in his dark brown eyes. "So you see, there is method even to my own madness. Besides, for the advanced group, the testing will all be done individually this year... "

Harry sighed and leaned against the stone himself. "How long would I have to keep this a secret?"

"About a week. After that, I can't see any harm in your friends knowing, but I wouldn't let it go beyond that."

"What about next year? What do I do instead of Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"I'm sure something can be arranged, Harry." He paused for a minute and then leapt up onto the stone. Before Harry could say anything, the elf had leapt down and was standing on the platform just beneath the bell itself. "What do you think?"

Although he had an odd sinking feeling in his stomach at the mere thought of agreeing to keep a secret from his friends, even if it was only for a short time, he couldn't help but realise how important this would be to him - it was quite literally a matter of life or death, after all.

"You have yourself a deal, Professor."

-------------------------

Until the sun sets upon a broken world...**  
The Shadows**


	40. Finality and the Trip Home

Chapter Fourty: Finality and the Trip Home

It was a Saturday afternoon when Harry made his way alone to the Room of Requirement. Although Hermione had wanted to go with him, he knew, deep down, that that afternoon's meeting was one he had to prepare for on his own.

He didn't come empty handed, though. That morning, while going through his trunk to make sure he wasn't going to forget anything when they left in a few days' time, he had found a neatly bundled package at the bottom.

He hadn't recognised what they were at all, not even after reading the note that Lupin had attached to them. Apparently, his godfather had had them slipped them into his trunk at some stage recently - or, at least Harry hoped it had been recently, rather than face the possibility that they had been there for months and he hadn't noticed - because he had felt Harry may have a need for them.

Lupin hoped above and beyond all else that that need would never come true, but thought that advanced planning was only wise given the state of the wizarding world. The package was a set of neatly folded robes... ceremonial robes worn by the officiating wizard or witch during a rite of passing - a memorial service. Given Harry's capacity as the leader of the DA, that responsibility fell to him.

Wearing the robes, Lupin had said in the note, meant that Harry was willing to accept his role as leader of the group, and shows loyalty to those fallen as well as those still present. Harry wouldn't have even thought of finding different clothes, but it certainly explained the odd owl he had received during breakfast that morning telling him to look in his trunk.

If you are going to do something, you might as well do it properly, Harry said to himself in kneazle. He pulled the fabric out of the wrapping paper and held it up to get a closer look at it. The robe was actually in two parts, not counting the elegant sash and waist belt, nor the belt that would cross his chest. He shed his school robes easily and threw them onto the desk behind him with little thought as he pulled on the ceremonial clothing. It wasn't like anyone else would be coming for quite some time, anyway.

The bottom of the robes reminded him somewhat of a skirt, except the top of them came up to the middle of his ribs. They were black, as he had expected, and seemed to be made of a soft silk. All along them were markings in a fine silver thread, writing in runes that he couldn't understand. Rather than take the time he would need to try, he shook his head and pulled on the top half of the robes, which came down close to his knees, providing a large overlap. The top was black silk as well, but instead of fine silver runes, the cuffs of the sleeves as well as the hem across the front was decorated with tiny silver stars.

The waist belt was also made of silk, but was a pure white instead. There were no markings of any kind on it, and Harry paused for a second before tying it shut. He then eased the top of the robes open enough to slip his regular belt across his chest, hidden beneath the fabric. He wasn't about to even go through something like he was planning without his time wolf wand - his only remaining wand - and his dagger.

He then tied the chest belt firmly into place, noticing how the silver fabric seemed to sparkle more brightly next to the dark black of the top. He then pulled the sash over his head and let it fall into place. He picked up the dark green cloak that he had rarely gone anywhere without for quite some time, but then set it back on the desk with only a little hesitation, covering everything else up easily.

He then took a seat against the edge of the desk and bowed his head in thought, even as the door to the Room cracked open slowly, as though someone was testing to see if it was alright to enter. Harry didn't look up to them - he knew it was Hermione, Ron, and Luna, for there was no question that they would be first to arrive after he did - but waved in front of him to the rows of chairs that the Room had provided. He set one foot on the large wooden chest that was sitting before him and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

It didn't take much longer for everyone else in the DA to arrive. He had expected those who knew what his robes were about to say something, but no one spoke at all - at least, not to him. There were a few whispers, but that was it until Harry finally looked up to the fourteen others in the room. Hermione stood from her chair when he met her gaze and came to stand next to him. He watched as Ron released Luna's hand, setting it gently on her leg, before standing to join the two at the front.

It had been a very long time since the trio stood alone before anything... but it felt right once again, while feeling wrong at the same time.

"I don't know what to do," he admitted in a voice that carried to the back of the room easily, even though he wasn't shouting. "I have never done a service quite like this before. Even a small memorial service was difficult enough... remembering Anthony Goldstein, Ernie MacMillian, Hannah Abbott, and Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"But like Harry said," Ron offered quietly. "This is different. Those four died on their own, trying in vain to protect their homes and their families." He knelt down and opened the wooden chest slowly, pulling out four large pieces of parchment. He turned to the front of the Room and held all four of them up. Before he could figure out just how he was going to manage it, the four squares left his hand as of their own accord and hovered before them all, behind the three standing at the front. "Dean and Cho..."

"Dean Thomas," Harry said clearly when Ron trailed off. "Sixth year Gryffindor student, leader of the Dark Warriors... his strengths really didn't lay with healing and protection, but he tried his best so the rest of his group would stay strong."

Harry stopped and turned to Hermione as he noticed she was fishing around in her pockets for something. A minute or two later, she pulled out two parchments rolled around two pieces of wood - obviously wands. Without a word, she handed one of them to Harry, and he took it hesitantly.

Looking down at the offering, he slit the wax seal that had been placed upon it and unrolled it slowly and carefully. Holding the wand loosely in one hand, he read the title at the top out loud. "Last Will and Testament of Dean Thomas." He swallowed hard and looked to Hermione quickly for an explanation.

"Everyone in this room was prepared," she said softly. "Check the other page."

Harry looked back down, only then noticing that there were two pieces of parchment, and not just one. Pulling out the other one, he found that it was a letter from Dean's father, addressed directly to him. Despite this fact, he decided it would be best to read it out loud.

_To Harry Potter:_

_I wish I knew how to properly start this letter... it isn't one I ever expected I'd have to write in the first place, so I'm sure you can understand my shock when Dean owled his mother and I with what sounded like an odd request. We had never heard of any dangers in the wizarding world, but looking back now we were foolish to think everything could be perfect all the time._

_We both wish we had known earlier... not so we could have stopped our son, but so we could have cherished our time together that much more._

_I'm not writing you this letter at your Headmaster's request, even if you might have assumed otherwise. He has spoken to my wife and I for several days now about what happened to our Dean, and was actually quite good to us, which was comforting. We both found it a little disturbing, however, when he mentioned your name several times. He seemed concerned, and it wasn't hard to guess why._

_We don't blame you, Harry. Nor do we blame anyone else in your defense group - what you are doing is worthy of high praise, not belittlement. Our son would never have gotten involved with your group if he didn't believe in its cause above and beyond all else._

_I can't say I'm not sorry or disappointed, but I know where the blame actually lies. I understand that the one who killed our son is already dead, but the leader of these dark wizards is still alive. We wish you only the best of luck, and pray that you never have to read another letter like this one - it was hard enough to write, but I can imagine how it must feel to read it from your end of things._

_Please keep an eye open, and continue to do everything you can to help others. It is a truly commendable calling._

_Edgar Thomas_

Harry rolled the letter up again slowly and bowed his head, trying in vain to keep the tears from rolling down his cheeks. Even if Dean's parents didn't blame him, he couldn't help but feel at least partially responsible. Deciding to keep going before he wouldn't be able to any longer, he unrolled the first page again. It explained why he had Dean's wand in his hand - he had asked that it be given to the leader of the DA without any question involved.

Finding his words escaping him, Harry reached down to the large chest again and pulled out a blank square of parchment and the gryffin quill that was resting on top. With a flourish, he wrote Dean's name across it in large letters and then started it around the room. Nothing was said by anyone as it went around, and when it got back to Harry in the end, he added the lightning bolt marking at the bottom, at which point it floated off the desk and into the air behind him, to join the other four already hovering there.

"During the service after Christmas holidays, everyone was welcome to say anything they wished about those departed," Harry said softly. "If anyone has something to say about Dean, I guess now would be a good time."

"He was a true friend, and a loyal Gryffindor," Colin offered.

"The common room won't be the same without him... classes won't be the same, either," Lavender admitted. "We might not have always gotten along - he seemed to have the same opinion of Divination as Hermione does, but was more vocal about it - but he was a good friend."

"To Dean!" Denis suggested, lifting his wand up to point it into the air in a form of salute. There was a flourish of wands as everyone in the DA drew theirs quickly to join in the motion.

"I'll read Cho's, if that would be easier," Ron offered as the wands lowered. Harry nodded quickly, not so much because it would be easier for him, but because Ron almost never spoke out to people anymore, and he figured that this would help at least a bit in that regard. Hermione handed him the rolled parchments, but gave Harry the wand.

_To Harry Potter:_

_Speaking strictly as a parent, I have to say that I wish I never hear your name again, Harry. But that wouldn't really be fair, would it? My husband was actually the first to understand what happened... it took me a lot longer to come to terms with the loss of our eldest daughter in her last year at Hogwarts. She was Head Girl, and had jobs lined up and everything... but all that's gone now._

_The last time our daughter was home over the Christmas holidays, we knew something was going on. She wouldn't tell us what, exactly, but it wasn't hard to guess a bit of it. Did you know that after her sixth year she spoke about you a lot? She was confused, and didn't know if she should be upset with how generous a person you are or pleased... after all, if you were a cold hearted person, then Cedric wouldn't have died, now would he?_

_Again, that's not really fair of me, but a lot of life isn't fair, either. Our daughter settled on seeing you as a friend, though for quite some time she was confused about that and was wavering between something more as well. But the last time we saw her, there was an edge about her everytime we asked about you. Now we understand why - she thought we were trying to get her to avoid you at all costs, and our daughter has too strong a will for that._

_We're proud of her, Harry. Her father and I are both proud of her... even still. She made a powerful, difficult choice - the choice to fight in a war to protect other people. Not many people are capable of putting their life in danger to protect others, and although we wish it had ended differently, we are still proud of her._

_Just like we're proud of you. You and the rest of the Defense Association. Even in difficult, impossible times, you seem to be able to stand strong and tall, fighting for what you believe in._

_Never stop, no matter what anyone tells you._

_Rumiko Chang_

Ron looked up to Harry for a moment before looking back to the letter again. "There's more on the back... this part from Cho. She must have written it, and asked her mother to include it if the worst came true," he added as he flipped the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_You were right all along, and I hope you are aware of that. It wasn't about protecting others, not for me. I should have listened to you... but I was only a part of this group for one reason. If you are reading this, then there's a good chance that reason did not succeed - I want to avenge Cedric. I want the one who killed him dead._

_I know it isn't fair of me to ask this, but if I failed, can you please see it done? Somehow, somewhere... the one that you named as Wormtail, who's real name is Peter Pettigrew... can you make sure he dies before this is over?_

_Thank you, Harry, for everything you have done for me and for everyone else._

_Cho_

Again, Harry couldn't find his voice, so he simply pulled out the large piece of parchment and wrote her name across it as well before passing it around the room. He added the lightning bolt again, and watched as it joined the others behind the three of them in the front of the room.

"Cho was an amazing person," Julia offered before anyone else could speak. "Truth be told, a lot of us in Ravenclaw were a bit jealous of her, because she never seemed to have to work at being beautiful, but even still, she was a good person. She was easy to study with - an important point in Ravenclaw, anyway - and..."

"A wicked good seeker against anyone but Harry," Ron interrupted.

"But next to Harry, even Victor Krum doesn't look good," Colin pointed out. Harry glanced quickly at Hermione at that comment, and bit back a smile as he caught her eye. "She was good."

"Cho Chang, seventh year Ravenclaw and Head Girl of Hogwarts," Hermione offered quietly to bring the service to a close. "Second in command of the Dark Warriors, and quite good with her charms. Her last wish was also granted, as with her death, Wormtail also met his end."

There was a few minutes of silence then before Harry clapped his hands, making everyone look up in surprise. "Well, let's end the year reviewing our Patronuses," he suggested. "Because if we can summon one now, then dementors don't stand a chance!"

As everyone broke off into their groups - with Ron and Luna joining Harry and Hermione - Susan and Padma both came up to Harry. "We both have the same question, so don't worry," Susan said quickly when she saw how tired Harry looked suddenly. "A few of the other students in Hufflepuff have asked me if they can join the DA, and some Ravenclaws have asked you, right Padma?"

"Right," the Patil twin replied. "Everyone knows about the DA now, even if it is still a secret club. I told them I'd ask you."

Harry looked to Ron briefly, who looked to be in thought for a moment before nodding. "We'll talk next year," Harry suggested. "When we fix the teams, we'll see how many extra we need, and contact people who have asked then, alright?"

Both Susan and Padma seemed fine with that, and went back to their groups to start summoning the silvery creations again. By the time the meeting had come to an end, the group had gone through a good deal of chocolate, but was feeling better than they had beforehand. As Harry sealed the wooden chest again with the six pieces of parchment and two wands inside, he picked up his clothes and walked out of the Room of Requirement, letting it fade from existence for the summer.

-----------------------

"Potter!"

"Is it really too much to ask to go through a full day without a professor coming up to me?" Harry muttered under his breath as he turned around at the Gryffindor table. "Yes, Professor?"

"You have a detention to serve with me still!"

"But Professor Snape, today's the last full day before we all go home!"

Snape looked down his nose at Hermione's comment, but didn't answer. Instead, he looked back to Harry, who nodded after a moment. "Right. Now, then?"

"I would not waste my time walking over here if that was not the intention."

Harry winked to Hermione as he stood up, reassuring her that he did, in fact, know what he was doing before following the head of Slytherin out of the Great Hall. When the large double doors closed behind them with a bang, Harry looked up to Snape. "Did you know that Dumbledore didn't know?"

"I had no idea," Snape said. "I assumed that he knew what the crystal could be used for, but would not take the risk to stop it."

"You were wrong."

"So were you." Silence fell in the halls again, broken only by their footfalls, until Snape stopped next to his classroom, not going inside just yet. "You did well, Potter."

"Thank you, sir." The odd relationship between himself and Snape still didn't make any sense to him, but Harry wasn't about to look a gift hippogryff in the mouth.

"I'm sure even your feeble mind has figured out that this detention is a shame, Potter," Snape said, still not opening the door. "I was going to let it go with nothing, but certain things have changed, and others have come to my attention that requires your attention inside this classroom. You are not to get angry, and must be willing to listen without fail. Am I clear?"

"I'm walking into a trap."

"Here." Harry took the offered object, and found it to be a wand. He took a quick moment to inspect it, and found the initials DM on the handle. "I have searched him myself, both his robes and his mind... he will not attack you right now." He didn't give Harry a chance to respond before pushing the door open and ushering him inside. When the door closed behind him, leaving Snape on the outside, Harry felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.

He paused for a minute and looked around the classroom, assuming he would find something of note - obviously someone was there who wanted to speak with him, so they must be there.

"Scarhead Potter."

"Malfoy!" Harry leapt away from the door, finding Draco Malfoy to have been standing behind it. Harry had his wand in his hand in an instant, pointing right at his enemy within Hogwarts.

"Oh, put it away, Potter! Didn't Snape tell you what was going on?"

"I'm sure you'll forgive me for being a little uneasy here!"

"Forgive?" Malfoy said with a bark. "Odd word coming from you right now, or did you forget?"

Harry felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as he took that in. He had a point. "Look, Malfoy, I'm..."

"Save it," Malfoy snapped, turning and starting to pace down the classroom. "You know, I'm honestly not sure if I should be cursing you or thanking you!"

"Thanking me?"

"Don't you know anything about the way the wizarding world works, Potter? By Merlin's sake, I thought that's why you had shacked up with that mudblood, for her brain!"

Harry pushed the anger he felt at that statement down with more than a little difficulty. "Call her that again, and I'm walking out of here without hearing whatever it is you wanted to tell me."

"Let me fill you in with our world, Potter. Now pay attention, because I'm not saying this twice. My father was in charge of the Malfoy properties. Follow?"

"Your point?"

"Well, with my mother missing right now - in other words, in the Dark Lord's ranks and not able to come forward to Gringotts to sign the appropriate forms - I am the next in line for the Malfoy Estate." At Harry's semi-blank stare, he shook his head and kept going. "That means I'm in charge of my family's money, got that?"

"So you're thanking me for taking out your dad?"

"I would never call him my dad,"Malfoy spat. "He was my father, that is all."

"There's a difference?"

"I should have expected such dull wits from you, Potter. Thank you for living up to my expectations."

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"The money's great, but that's not why I'm here. Obviously you didn't know what you were doing, and Snape told me that you barely even knew that you killed him in the first place, so you get nothing for that."

"This is my last day in the school for the year, and I'd be much happier getting back to the common room, so is there any chance you could just get to the point?"

"This is hard enough for me as it is!" Malfoy snapped. "Part of me wants to strangle you, part of me wants to ignore you completely, and a very, _very_, small part of me wants to give you a hug."

"What?"

"My sister told me what you did for her."

"Sister?" Harry repeated, thinking hard. His mind struck gold as he remembered the little girl that Kailyn had found in the Malfoy Manor. "She's your sister?"

"Who'd you think she was?"

"It didn't matter at the time," Harry admitted. "She was obviously an innocent stuck somewhere dangerous, and I wasn't about to let her die if I could help it."

"That bloody saving people thing?"

Harry shrugged but didn't answer. Instead, he finally returned his wand to the sheath on his belt and nodded. "I wasn't going to leave her."

"I'm not on your side, you know."

"After all your not-so-veiled threats? I had no idea, really."

"Sarcasm will get you everywhere, you know."

"No where I need to go, thanks."

Malfoy shook his head and walked over to the door, running a hand through his silver-blonde hair slowly. "Look, I owe you one, alright?"

"Yeah, I know."

"I've never been indebted to anyone, and I don't like it now."

"I know." Harry paused for a minute before pushing passed the Slytherin Prefect, and then stopped at the door. He flipped the wand that Snape had given him out of his pocket and tossed it down on the ground. "See you next year, ferret."

------------------------

Harry met Hermione in the hall just outside the Fat Lady portrait on their way down to the farewell feast. After he had returned from his so-called detention, he had filled her in on everything that had happened, but she didn't know exactly what it meant any more than he did, so they both decided to put it behind them for the time being and simply enjoy their last day at Hogwarts for the year.

"Hey, Harry!"

Harry rolled his eyes discretely to Hermione and turned slowly to find Colin and Denis Creevey both running up to him. "Did you hear the news, Harry?"

"What news?" he asked. He knew it wasn't bad news - the two brothers had reverted to previous years' behaviour, so it couldn't be that serious.

"Some third year in Slytherin just lost 300 points!"

"Can you repeat that?" Hermione said before Harry could even begin to process that strange information. "300?"

"Yup!" Denis said gleefully. "And everyone on their Quidditch team lost another 50 points each!"

Harry looked to Hermione briefly as though he half expected her to understand what had happened, but upon seeing her confusion, he looked back to the two brothers who were on the Gryffindor team. "What happened?"

"Malcom Baddock." The four turned to find Ron and Luna walking towards them in the corridor. "You know you're going to be late if you don't get moving, right?" Ron pointed out. "Feast starts in about ten minutes, and I, for one, don't want to miss any of the food!"

"What did Malcom Baddock do?" Harry asked. "Better still, who's Malcom Baddock?"

"My new best friend," Ron quipped with a grin. "Slytherin third year who decided that the Slytherin Quidditch team should win no matter what."

Harry frowned at that, and then a thought flashed through his mind. "He's the one who..."

"Yup," Ron replied quickly. "His parents own a manticore farm - not that hard for him to pull it off. He won't fess up to how he got it into your broom, but I heard Dumbledore reckons that someone on the Quidditch team did it during the match. That's why they lost points, too."

"You realise what this means, don't you?" Hermione asked, looking up after a moment of thought. When no one answered, she broke out into a large smile. "Slytherin has a new record low points at the end of the year - I don't think they even have 10!"

"Uh, Mione, remember last year and Hufflepuff?" Harry asked.

"With that cow and the Inquisitorial Squad? Last year doesn't count to anyone but the Slytherins!"

"Fair point," Harry agreed, holding out an arm to Hermione with a smile. "Shall we, then, my Lady?"

"But of course," she replied with a grin of her own as she accepted his arm. Colin and Denis shot into the Gryffindor Common Room first, but the four friends didn't wait for them as they started down towards the Great Hall.

"So you're coming to the feast this year, Luna?" Harry asked as they rounded a bend and started down the last set of stairs to reach the main floor. Although still not entirely sure how she could move around as easily as she did - despite the fact that Hermione had explained to him that she could see, just with sight that was quite different from everyone else's (he didn't quite understand, but after she tried to explain it for the forth time, he pretended he did). All he knew was that it was thanks to the dagger that he had given Hermione that Luna now carried.

"Of course I am," she said easily, looking back to him quickly as though trying to warn him away from something. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Uh, because this time last year you were putting up posters so your dorm mates would return your things?" he pointed out. When Luna winced and looked away, he knew he had just stepped in it.

"What?" Ron demanded in a loud voice. "Someone's stealing stuff from you?"

"No, Ronald, no," Luna said urgently, shooting a quick glare at Harry - a glare made all the more effective with her odd white/green eyes - before grasping at one of Ron's arms. "I'm not missing anything."

"They what's Harry talking about?"

"Nothing mate, don't worry about it," Harry said quickly. "You smell that food? I think the house elves went all out tonight!" he added, shooting an apologetic glance to Hermione.

"They probably even made loads of dessert, Ron," Hermione said. She obviously understood at least a little of what was going on.

When Ron refused to take another step, Luna sighed and turned back to him. "Every year before this one, the other students in Ravenclaw thought I was odd - remember, Loony Lovegood? They stole my stuff every year... but I always got it back before the end of term!"

"And they didn't take anything this year?" Ron asked slowly. It wasn't clear if he was upset at the thought that they did steal stuff from her before, or was upset that they might not have this year.

"I've got everything, don't worry," Luna said, not exactly answering his question in hopes of convincing him to let it drop.

"Yes or no, love..."

Luna hesitated for a brief moment before nodded. "Nothing."

"So now they're treating you differently because of..."

"What happened at the end of last year," Luna cut in before Ron could say anything else. "All year, they've been treating me like one of them because of my part in the trip to the Ministry of Magic last year, not for any other reason."

Harry and Hermione took a couple of steps away from their friends to give them a bit of space, and then looked to each other. "Looking forward to the feast?" Hermione asked.

"Sort of," Harry said slowly. "It does mean that we're leaving here for another summer, and this year I'm actually not going back to Privet Drive. How can I not be a little excited about that? But still... it means leaving Hogwarts, too."

"I know what you mean," Hermione said. "But don't worry - all of our teachers gave us loads of homework for the summer, so it'll be like we're still here." Harry couldn't help but chuckle a little at her enthusiastic reply. Trust Hermione to treat homework as a bonus. "Besides, with my parents staying at Grimmauld Place, that means you and I get to spend the summer together, too."

"Ron, Ginny, and the rest of the Weasley's will be there too, remember," Harry pointed out. "Not to mention Remus, probably a few other Order members, and Talisien might be there for a while. It won't exactly just be the two of us, Mia."

"I know," Hermione replied, pulling herself closer to him to wrap her arms around him. "But I'll be a lot closer to you this summer than I have been before, and we'll still be together at nights if nothing else, right?"

"Mrs. Weasley isn't about to stop that, no matter what she thinks."

Hermione smiled and leaned up to give him a quick kiss before pulling away. "I love you," she whispered.

"I know," he replied with a soft smile. He turned at the clearing of a throat, and found Ron and Luna both looking to the two of them expectantly.

"Would you mind going in ahead with Luna, Hermione?" Ron asked in an almost forced voice. Not entirely sure what was going on, she figured that she might as well grant his request - it wasn't like he and Harry were going to be long, after all.

"Sure," she said. "I'll save you a seat, Harry."

"You better," he replied with a smile as he watched the two girls walk down the last of the stairs and into the Great Hall. "What's on your mind, Ron?" he asked, looking back to his best mate with just enough time to duck beneath the punch that was headed his way. His mind instantly back to his training with Kailyn, he pulled in on himself and ducked backwards to get some distance between himself and Ron. "What's the deal?"

"I thought you said you told her!" Ron said in a surprisingly chipper voice, moving towards him again. "Now get back here so I can knock some sense into you!"

"Oh gimme a break!" Harry said, shaking his head and holding up his hands. "I have told her several times, Ron."

"Oh yeah? Then what was all that about?"

Harry frowned. "All what?"

"Our mutual best friend of five years just told you that she loved you - as she has many times this year, in case you've somehow forgotten - and you replied with your bloody 'I know!'"

"Garble wado?"

Ron let out a loud laugh - the first Harry had heard from his friend since the rescue mission - and shook his head, clapping Harry on the back. "First, it's garble wayho," Ron explained as they started down the stairs themselves. "And second, what's that got to do with you telling Hermione?"

"That's your and Luna's thing, right? Well, 'Mione and I have our own thing. Look, it's too complicated to explain, and I don't really feel like trying right now anyway, okay?" Harry said. "Just trust me - I've told her. First time was in the hospital wing while Dumbledore and Pomfrey were going over you and Luna, right after I had woken up again."

Ron looked like he was suddenly caught off guard, and rubbed the back of his neck as he avoided Harry's gaze. "Er... right then. Sorry about that."

"Let's just go join the girls, you great git."

"Yeah, yeah. You don't think Dumbledore's put the food on already, do you?"

The first thing Harry and Ron noticed as they entered the Great Hall were the decorations - as with many of their years at Hogwarts, it appeared that the colour scheme coincidentally matched that of Gryffindor House, telling them just where the points had ended up in the end.

The massive piles of food were not missed either, and it was with great joy that the two joined their girls at the Gryffindor table for the farewell feast as Dumbledore began the end of year speeches.

-------------------------

"Wisdom through the ages is never clearer than after the fact."

Harry whirled around just before getting on the Hogwart's Express behind Hermione and found their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor leaning against one of the Thestral drawn carriages, apart from everyone else. He wasn't sure what the elf had meant by that, but he was sure that it had been meant to get his attention.

"Professor Talisien," Harry said with a smile, waving his friends on and walking over to him. "I was hoping I'd see you again before leaving for the summer."

Talisien nodded and lowered his hood, even as he lowered himself to the ground to sit on the stone. Harry sat down as well, wondering just what his Professor was up to. "I will be by your home in two weeks' time to begin your training," Talisien said calmly, as though discussing something as mundane as the weather. "So I would suggest you make good use of your relaxation while you can."

"Then I passed my NEWT?" Harry asked.

"Passed?" Talisien asked in surprise. "I hardly think pass is the proper term. Harry, you achieved an Outstanding NEWT in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"So that means you're willing to train me, then?"

"Exactly. You will not have an easy time ahead in your life, I'm afraid."

"You may be, but I've grown to expect that," Harry replied easily. "You realise what Hermione's going to say when I get on that train, right?"

"She is not to know you are training with me until I arrive," Talisien reminded the sixth year Gryffindor. "Though I am sure she will be pleased with your results."

"And upset that I didn't tell her earlier."

Talisien nodded the truth in that fact, and then sighed as he leaned back. "Has Ron told you what is going on, yet?"

"Ron?" Harry repeated. "Going on with what?"

"Ronald does not need to speak for me, Talisien," a dreamy voice said from behind Harry. He spun around quickly and found Luna walking slowly towards the both of them. "You are about to miss the train, Harry."

"What about you, though?"

"I am not going on the train," Luna replied easily enough. "Talisien has offered to bring me to the forest, where I can learn how to see again with this gift from Hermione," she added, motioning to the dagger that was tucked into her belt without a sheath. "There are elves there who have training with such a thing."

"And you're okay with that?"

"And so is Ronald," Luna said with a nod. "I'll see you again before too long, I'm sure."

"Odd words, coming from you now, Luna."

"Odd words seem to have a habit of coming from me anyway, Harry, so that should not come as a surprise to you."

"I'll make sure I write to you over the summer, then, alright?"

Luna nodded again and then smiled. "Please try to keep Ronald out of trouble, too. Maybe with Hermione's help you can manage it."

Harry shook his head and laughed. "With the three of us, it's more likely that trouble will find us!" He stood up slowly and held a hand out to Luna. She ignored the gesture entirely and pulled him in for a brief hug. "Take care of yourself, Luna," he suggested. "That forest is a tremendous place, though I'm sure you'll discover something new that no one else has ever seen before."

"Don't forget to have fun this summer," Luna suggested to Harry. "After all, you won't have to see your relatives at all, right?"

Her words hit Harry hard, and he frowned briefly before putting a mask up to hide that fact. "Good point," he said as he released her. "Hermione and I will have a good time, don't worry."

"Tell Ronald that I'll be thinking of him?"

"I doubt I'll need to, but I will."

"Thanks," Luna said. she then paused for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"You'd better start running. The train's about to leave."

"What?" Harry said, startled as he turned around. Smoke was billowing from the pipes and he could hear the straining of metal working against metal as the shiny red Hogwart's Express started to slowly pull out of the Hogsmeade Station. "See you later!" he shouted over his shoulder as he started off in a dead run for the train. He could see Ron with his face plastered against a window laughing at him, and caught the hand Hermione was holding out from the closest doorway as he pulled himself onto the train.

"Nice going," she said with a smile as he leaned into her and worked on catching his breath. "Almost missed the beginning of your summer vacation."

"I don't think so," Harry said with a smile of his own. "Miss the best summer of my life? No way I'd let that happen."

He released Hermione as he slid open the compartment with Ron and Ginny waiting for him, and held it open as Neville slipped inside as well before following suite, sitting next to Hermione comfortably.

"She... uh... say anything, mate?" Ron asked after a collective sigh as the village of Hogsmeade disappeared from view.

"Luna?" Harry asked, feigning indifference for a moment before swatting the hand that Ron was threatening him with. "It is never so much a goodbye, as a simple farewell. It is not as though you will never see each other again." Alright, so maybe she hadn't said that, but it was a fair message anyway, one he had learned from the elves quite some time ago.

"That's deep," Neville said sagely, Ginny nodding her agreement.

"No, you know what's deep?" Harry asked, a grin on his face as he turned to look to Hermione carefully.

"What?" she asked cautiously, catching the glint in his ocean green eyes but not commenting on it just yet. "What did you do?"

Harry sighed and leaned against the window - carefully putting a little distance between himself and his girlfriend in the process. "Nothing much," he replied casually. "Just found out I got an Outstanding on an exam, that's all."

"An Outstanding?" Hermione repeated shrilly. "Harry, that's great! I always knew you'd do great in Defense Against the Dark Arts! Did he tell you..."

"Not just an exam, either. My NEWT level exam," Harry added, cutting off her question by sticking that out there. The incredible silence in the compartment was broken after about a minute by a distinctly catlike growl of exasperation as Hermione launched herself at Harry, who burst out laughing at the same time.

Summer was looking like it was going to be interesting, to say the least.

-------------------------

* * *

Until the sun sets upon a broken world, I will be watching from within...**  
The Shadows**


End file.
